Frankfurt Airport reports May growth, despite cargo drop
The Fraport Group, which operates Germany’s Frankfurt Airport and holds majority stake in Peru’s Jorge Chávez International Airport, Turkey’s Antalya Airport and Bulgaria’s Bourgas International Airport, has released its May 2011 traffic figures. But it’s Frankfurt Airport’s numbers that really has Fraport Group talking.
Frankfurt Airport passenger traffic was up considerably in May; for the first time in the airport’s history, it exceeded 5 million. Cargo traffic, however, wasn’t quite so lucky.
Falling 7.9 percent from May 2010, airfreight tonnage likely dropped due to the absence last year’s extenuating circumstances, the Fraport Group explained. “Frankfurt reported a 39.7 percent jump in airfreight tonnage [last] May — primarily at the beginning of May 2010 due to the large amount of unshipped cargo following the European ash cloud crisis,” a company press release explained.
Either way, cargo growth was rampant at Frankfurt Airport last year. Handling 2,231,348 metric tonnes of airfreight — a 20.5 percent increase from 2009 — Frankfurt Airport also saw a 2.9 percent jump in maximum takeoff weight. Aircraft movements also increased 0.3 percent in 2010.
