Fraport Traffic Figures – May 2016: Traffic Slows Amid Restrained Tourist Bookings
FRA Affected by Numerous Weather-Related Flight Cancellations – Fraport’s International Portfolio Continues to Report Mixed Results
With 41,181 takeoffs and landings, FRA also registered a 3.5 percent dip in aircraft movements. Cargo (airfreight + airmail) throughput also softened slightly to 177,536 metric tons, down by 1.3 percent year-on-year. In line with the trend, accumulated maximum takeoff weights (MTOWs) fell by 1.5 percent to 2.6 million metric tons.
Fraport AG’s international portfolio of airports continued to report mixed results in May 2016. Ljubljana Airport (LJU) in Slovenia experienced a 9.3 percent slide in traffic to 116,499 passengers, resulting from consolidation of flight offerings. In Peru’s capital, Lima Airport (LIM) welcomed 1.6 million passengers – a significant 12.8 percent increase compared to the same month last year. Fraport’s two Bulgarian gateways at Varna (VAR) and Burgas (BOJ) saw their combined traffic jump by 36.5 percent to 229,375 passengers. Thus, the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast has proven its potential to become an alternative holiday destination for travelers from Europe and, above all, from Russia. These holidaymakers are currently avoiding countries on the eastern and southern shores of the Mediterranean Sea because of security concerns. This trend also affected traffic at Antalya Airport (AYT) on the Turkish Riviera, where figures slumped by 37.2 percent to 1.9 million passengers in May 2016. Along with travelers’ concerns about terrorism, AYT was impacted by the ongoing political situation between Turkey and Russia. Within Russia, political and economic factors also caused a decline in traffic, especially international air traffic. As a result, passenger numbers at Pulkovo Airport (LED) in St. Petersburg dropped by 7.3 percent to 1.1 million. In northern Germany, Hanover Airport (HAJ) recorded a moderate 3.1 percent decline to 496,343 passengers, resulting solely from lower tourist traffic. In contrast, Xi’an Airport (XIY) in central China continued to follow a growth path. XIY served some 3.0 million passengers, an increase of 9.7 percent year-on-year.