Fraport Traffic Figures - March and First Quarter 2015: Frankfurt Airport's Passenger Figures Reach Record Level in March, Despite Strikes and Hurricane Niklas

- FRANKFURT, Germany, April 14, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Strong Passenger Traffic in the First Quarter - Group Airports Achieve Positive Results  FRA - Frankfurt Airport (FRA) welcomed more than 4.6 million passengers in March 2015, representing an increase of 2.5 percent year-on-year and a new March monthly record.  During the reporting month, FRA was affected by the Lufthansa pilot strike for four days and on March 31 by Hurricane Niklas, which disrupted the flight schedule.  Excluding these events that resulted in about 1,250 flight cancellations, some 150,000 additional passengers would have used the FRA global aviation hub.  Correspondingly, the number of aircraft movements declined by 2.3 percent to 37,218 takeoffs and landings.  Accumulated maximum takeoff weights (MTOWs) increased to 2.37 million metric tons (up 1.2 percent).  Cargo volume (airfreight and airmail) dropped by 6.1 percent to 189,546 metric tons.  The effects of strike-related flight cancellations can be seen here as well, which also led to reductions in belly capacity in the important intercontinental traffic segment. With more than 12.5 million passengers choosing Germany's biggest airport in the first quarter of 2015, FRA recorded passenger growth of 2.7 percent compared to the same period in the preceding year.  Thus, FRA exceeded the existing first quarter record reached in 2008 by approximately 260,000 passengers, despite the influence of strikes, winter weather and storms.  Particularly strong growth came from Asian traffic as well as tourist destinations in North Africa.  Following the trend of recent months, the total number of aircraft movements in the January-to March 2015 period slipped by 2.2 percent to 104,780 takeoffs and landings.  Nevertheless, MTOWs still rose by 2.1 percent to 6.6 million metric tons.  FRA's cargo throughput fell by two percent to 511,355 metric tons.   Overall, Fraport AG's international airport portfolio achieved positive results during the first quarter of 2015.  With 236,263 passengers (down 0.2 percent), Slovenia's Ljubljana Airport (LJU) maintained nearly the same passenger level as last year.  Lima Airport (LIM) in the capital of Peru, South America, greeted some four million passengers - leading to a strong rise of 8.6 percent.  The Bulgarian Twin-Star airports of Varna (VAR) and Burgas (BOJ) received a total 96,821 passengers (up 7.4 percent) in the first quarter of the year.  Antalya Airport (AYT) on the Turkish Riviera served about 2.4 million travelers from January to March 2015, a noticeable gain of 6.3 percent year-on-year.  Receiving nearly 2.5 million passengers, Russia's St. Petersburg Airport (LED) registered a slight decline of 0.6 percent.  In central China, traffic at Xi'an Airport (XIY) surged by 17.6 percent to more than 7.6 million passengers in the first three months of the year.  In the northern German state of Lower Saxony, Hanover Airport (HAJ) recorded a 5.3 percent jump to 974,487 passengers. Fraport Group Airports[1] Cargo (Freight & March 2015 Fraport Passengers Mail) Movements share DELTA DELTA DELTA in % Month % Month % Month % Fully-consolidated airports FRA Frankfurt, Germany 100.00 4,607,099 2.5 186,277 -6.4 37,218 -2.3 LJU Ljubljana, Slovenia 100.00 90,902 5.3 835 -2.8 2,471 -10.3 LIM Lima, Peru[2] 70.01 1,342,297 7.5 21,431 3.8 13,302 6.4 BOJ Burgas, Bulgaria 60.00 9,082 -13.2 714 -1.4 161 5.2 VAR Varna, Bulgaria 60.00 24,394 -0.7 5 >100.0 352 5.7 At equity consolidated airports[2] AYT Antalya, Turkey 51.00 1,040,481 2.4 n.a. n.a. 7,930 3.2 St. Petersburg, LED Russia 35.50 868,141 -3.4 n.a. n.a. 10,653 2.5 HAJ Hanover, Germany 30.00 402,339 8.4 1,541 30.0 6,323 -0.9 XIY Xi'an, China 24.50 2,707,054 27.0 17,025 14.6 21,609 16.8 Fraport Group Airports[1] Cargo (Freight & Year to Date (YTD) 2015 Fraport Passengers Mail) Movements share DELTA DELTA DELTA in % YTD % YTD % YTD % Fully-consolidated airports FRA Frankfurt, Germany 100.00 12,508,282 2.7 502,947 -2.4 104,780 -2.2 LJU Ljubljana, Slovenia 100.00 236,263 -0.2 2,296 -3.1 6,636 -5.0 LIM Lima, Peru[2] 70.01 4,023,531 8.6 64,710 6.4 38,831 6.2 BOJ Burgas, Bulgaria 60.00 29,933 3.7 1,358 -17.6 550 30.0 VAR Varna, Bulgaria 60.00 66,888 9.1 18 >100.0 951 2.6 At equity consolidated airports[2] AYT Antalya, Turkey 51.00 2,419,433 6.3 n.a. n.a. 18,338 1.3 St. Petersburg, LED Russia 35.00 2,473,954 -0.6 n.a. n.a. 30,536 2.1 HAJ Hanover, Germany 30.00 974,487 5.3 4,888 22.8 15,595 -5.5 XIY Xi'an, China 24.50 7,604,814 17.6 47,144 9.0 61,916 12.1 Frankfurt Airport[3] March 2015 Month DELTA % YTD 2015 DELTA % Passengers 4,607,870 2.5 12,509,642 2.7 Cargo (freight & mail) 189,546 -6.1 511,355 -2.0 Aircraft movements 37,218 -2.3 104,780 -2.2 MTOW (in metric tons)[4] 2,370,689 1.2 6,632,772 2.1 PAX/PAX-flight[5] 134.3 5.6 128.8 5.4 Seat load factor (%) 75.2 72.5 Punctuality rate (%) 82.0 81.5 PAX share Month PAX share Frankfurt Airport Regional Split month DELTA % YTD YTD DELTA% Germany 12.0% 2.5 12.0% 2.1 Europe (without Germany) 48.2% 1.2 47.7% 2.2 Western Europe 40.5% 1.3 39.7% 2.4 Eastern Europe 7.8% 0.9 8.0% 1.4 Intercontinental 39.8% 4.2 40.4% 3.6 Africa 4.4% 5.5 4.5% 3.5 Middle East 6.4% 7.2 6.4% 6.8 North America 12.2% 0.1 12.1% 0.9 Central & South America 4.3% 3.7 4.6% 2.9 Far East 12.5% 6.6 12.8% 5.0 Australia 0.0% -100.0 0.0% -100.0 [1] According to ACI-definition: Passengers: commercial traffic only (arr+dep+transit counted once) Cargo: commercial and non-commercial traffic (arr+dep excluding transit, in metric tons) Movements: commerical and non-commercial traffic (arr+dep) [2] Preliminary figures [3] Passengers: commercial and non-commercial traffic (arr+dep+transit counted once incl. General Aviation) Cargo: commercial and non-commercial traffic (arr+dep+transit counted once, in metric tons) Movements: commerical and non-commercial traffic (arr+dep) [4] Inbound traffic only [5] Scheduled and charter traffic Print-quality photos of Fraport AG and Frankfurt Airport are available for free downloading via the photo library located in our Press Center on the Fraport Web site. For TV news and information broadcasting purposes only, we also offer free footage material for downloading. Fraport AG - which ranks among the world's leading companies in the global airport business - offers a full range of integrated airport management services and boasts subsidiaries and investments on five continents. In 2014, the Fraport Group generated sales of €2.4 billionand profit of about €252 million. Last year more than 108.5 million passengers used airports around the world in which Fraport has more than a 50 percent stake. At its  Frankfurt Airport (FRA) home base, Fraport welcomed about 60 million passengers and handled some 2.2 million metric tons of cargo (airfreight and airmail) in 2014. For the current winter timetable, FRA is served by 98 passenger airlines flying to some 250 destinations in 105 countries worldwide.  More than half of FRA's destinations are intercontinental (beyond Europe) - underscoring Frankfurt's role as a leading hub in the global air transportation system. In Europe, Frankfurt Airport ranks first in terms of cargo tonnage and is the third-busiest for passenger traffic.  With about 55 percent of all passengers using Frankfurt as a connecting hub, FRA also has the highest transfer rate among the major European hubs. Frankfurt Airport City  has become Germany's largest job complex at a single location, employing more than 78,000 people at some 500 companies and organizations on site.  Major new real estate developments - such as The Squaire, the Gateway Gardens business park, and the Mönchhof Logistics Park - are creating an exciting new dimension and range of services at the evolving Frankfurt Airport City of the 21st century. Almost half of Germany's population lives within a 200-kilometer radius of the FRA intermodal travel hub - the largest airport catchment area in Europe. FRA Airport City also serves as a magnet for other companies located throughout the economically vital Frankfurt/Rhine-Main-Neckar region. Thanks to synergies associated with the region's dynamic industries, networked expertise, and outstanding intermodal transportation infrastructure, FRA's world route network enables Hesse's and Germany's export-oriented businesses to flourish in global growth markets.  Frankfurt Airport meets the increasing needs of the export-oriented economies of the State of Hesse as well as Germany as a whole, for optimal connections to growth markets around the globe. Likewise, FRA is a strategic gateway for companies wanting to access the huge European marketplace.  Thus, Frankfurt Airport - which is strategically located in the heart of Europe - is one of the most important hubs in the global logistics chain.     Fraport AGRobert A. Payne     International Spokesman     Press Office, Corp.Communications     60547 Frankfurt, Germany     Telephone: +49-69-690-78547 E-mail: r.payne@fraport.de Internet:  http://www.fraport.com Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/FrankfurtAirport