The recovery in passenger demand played a positive role in airports in Germany during the second quarter of this year, especially in the main hub in Frankfurt, where passenger volumes increased to 80 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.
A recent report by Frankfurt Airport (FRA) revealed that the Group’s total revenue saw a growth of 33.8 per cent year-on-year, reaching €1,804.3 million during the first six months of 2023, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
At the same time, the operational result, measured by EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation), reached the value of €481.4 million, marking an increase of 17.9 per cent.
Within this period, the Group’s net profit increased by €85.0 million. These data show that this is particularly evident since, in the first six months of 2022, this critical metric had remained in negative territory at minus €53.1 million.
In addition, Finance Chief Matthias Zieschang predicts a significant increase in the volume of Chinese passengers travelling to and from Frankfurt in the coming year. According to him, passenger capacity will rise by 90 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.
“Passengers travelling to and from China reached 39 per cent of pre-pandemic levels in the second quarter, around double the level of the first quarter, while route approvals, fresh testing rules, and limited aircraft supply weighed,” Zieschang also stated.
During the first half of 2023, passenger figures at FRA marked an increase of 29.1 per cent in a year-on-year comparison, reaching a total of 26.9 million. Throughout the same period, business travel within Europe demonstrated a gradual recovery, particularly to and from the financial centres of Western Europe.
Among the international airports under the management of Fraport that saw a remarkable recovery in number of passengers are as follows:
- Greece – 7.8 per cent
- Antalya Airport (AYT) – 96.2 per cent
- Peru’s Lima Airport (LIM) – 4 per cent
- Brazil’s Fortaleza (FOR) – 84.7 per cent
- Porto Alegre (POA) – 84.7 per cent
Based on the report, this year, passenger figures in Frankfurt will likely reach a minimum of 80 per cent to a maximum of 90 per cent of the traffic levels recorded in 2019, when over 70.6 million passengers travelled through Germany’s largest aviation hub.
Earlier data from FRA revealed that in May of this year, the airport also experienced a surge in passenger traffic compared to the previous year. The same source pointed out that around 5.1 million passengers travelled through FRA this month, showcasing a remarkable 12.2 per cent growth compared to May 2022.