GERMANY. Passenger traffic at Frankfurt Airport climbed by +6.1% year-on-year in 2017 to 64.5 million, a new annual record. Traffic to and from other European destinations was the main growth driver (+7.4%), with long-haul volumes climbing by +4.9%.
In December, Frankfurt Airport handled nearly 4.6 million passengers (+7.3%), surpassing the previous December record, set in 2016, by about 310,000.
Fraport Executive Board Chairman Dr. Stefan Schulte said: “With more than 64 million passengers served in 2017, Frankfurt Airport achieved a new historic record. After a challenging 2016, we are pleased that demand strengthened in 2017 and travellers could take advantage of the new flight connections at Frankfurt. At the same time, this growth underscores the need for our planned expansion of terminal capacities – the new Pier G in 2020 and Terminal 3 in 2023.”
He added: “Looking at our international business, 2017 was also a very successful year. Our group airports in Ljubljana, Varna and Burgas, St. Petersburg, Lima and Xi’an all posted record figures for annual passenger traffic. The 14 Greek regional airports, which joined the Fraport Group in April 2017, also reported an annual record in combined passenger traffic.”
Ljubljana Airport in Slovenia welcomed 1.7 million passengers in 2017 (up +19.8% year-on-year) while Lima Airport in Peru capital recorded a +9.3% rise to 20.6 million passengers. Combined, the Fraport Twin Star airports of Varna and Burgas welcomed nearly 5 million passengers, up by +8.4% year-on-year.
Fraport’s 14 Greek regional airports closed 2017 with a combined total of about 27.6 million passengers, representing a rise of +10.3%. The busiest airports included Kavala, where traffic surged by +22.8% to 337,963 passengers; Kos, which posted a gain of +20.7% to 2.3 million and Mykonos, which advanced by +18.6% to about 1.2 million.
Antalya Airport rebounded following a difficult year in 2016, posting with a +38.5% traffic gain to 26.3 million passengers. In northern Germany, Hanover Airport volumes climbed by +8.5% to 5.9 million passengers. Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg reported strong double-digit growth of +21.6% to 16.1 million passengers, following a slight drop in 2016. Xi’an Airport in China served 41.9 million passengers, up +13.1% year-on-year.
The Fraport portfolio by region in 2017