Overall passenger numbers for FRA and Fraport’s Group airports worldwide still remain well below pre-crisis standards – Frankfurt Airport achieves new all-time record for annual cargo tonnage
Frankfurt Airport (FRA) welcomed some 24.8 million passengers in 2021 – a 32.2 per cent increase compared to 2020 when global passenger numbers plummeted amid the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. After the third lockdown in May 2021, the easing of travel restrictions led to a noticeable recovery in demand for air travel. In particular, this positive trend was driven by European holiday traffic during the summer season. Beginning in the autumn, passenger numbers were also boosted by intercontinental traffic again. The recovery slowed somewhat towards the end of 2021, due to the emergence of the new virus variant. Compared with the 2019 pre-crisis level, FRA’s passenger volume for 2021 was still down 64.8 per cent.
Commenting on the traffic figures, Fraport AG’s CEO, Dr Stefan Schulte, said: “Throughout 2021, the Covid-19 pandemic continued to have a massive impact on Frankfurt Airport. Passenger traffic recovered gradually in the course of the year – even rising threefold in the April-to-December 2021 period compared to 2020. But we are still far away from the pre-pandemic levels of 2019. Cargo traffic, in contrast, saw very positive growth in 2021. Airfreight volumes in Frankfurt even reached a new annual record, despite the ongoing shortage of belly capacity on passenger flights and other challenges. This underscores our role as one of Europe’s leading cargo hubs.”
FRA’s aircraft movements in 2021 climbed by 23.4 per cent year-on-year to 261,927 takeoffs and landings (2019 comparison: down 49.0 per cent). Accumulated maximum takeoff weights or MTOWs grew by 18.9 per cent year-on-year to some 17.7 million metric tons (2019 comparison: down 44.5 per cent).
Cargo throughput, comprising airfreight and airmail, increased significantly by 18.7 per cent year-on-year to about 2.32 million metric tons – the highest annual volume ever achieved in the history of Frankfurt Airport (2019 comparison: up 8.9 per cent). A breakdown by the two cargo subcategories reveals that airfreight was the main driver behind this growth, while airmail continued to be affected by the lack of belly capacity on passenger aircraft.
December 2021 marked by counterbalancing trends
Some 2.7 million passengers travelled via Frankfurt Airport in December 2021. This equals a rise of 204.6 per cent year-on-year, albeit compared to a weak December 2020. Overall travel demand in December 2021 was tempered by rising infection rates and new travel restrictions imposed amid the spread of the Omicron variant. However, thanks to the growth in intercontinental traffic and holiday travel during Christmas, passenger traffic sustained the recovery experienced since May 2021. In the reporting month, FRA’s passenger numbers continued to rebound to more than half of the pre-crisis level recorded in December 2019 (down 44.2 per cent).
With 27,951 takeoffs and landings, aircraft movements at Frankfurt climbed 105.1 per cent year-on-year in December 2021 (December 2019 comparison: down 23.7 per cent). Accumulated MTOWs expanded by 65.4 per cent to about 1.8 million metric tons (December 2019 comparison: down 23.2 per cent).
FRA’s cargo throughput (airfreight + airmail) grew by 6.2 per cent year-on-year to around 197,100 metric tons in December 2021 – thus reaching its highest monthly volume since December 2007 (December 2019 comparison: up 15.7 per cent).
Regarding the traffic outlook for 2022, CEO Schulte explained: “The situation for our business will remain highly volatile and dynamic in 2022. At this stage, no one can reliably predict how the pandemic will evolve over the coming months. The related – and often inconsistent – travel restrictions will continue to put a heavy strain on the aviation industry. Despite these uncertainties, we are taking an optimistic view of the year ahead. We are expecting air travel demand to rebound noticeably again in the spring.”
Mixed picture for Fraport’s international portfolio
Fraport Group’s airports around the globe showed a mixed picture during the 2021 year. All of the international locations recorded varying growth rates compared to the weak 2020 reference year, with the exception of Xi’an in China. Traffic recovered much faster at airports focused on tourism traffic, especially during the summer season. Compared with the pre-crisis level of 2019, some Group airports in the international portfolio continued to report significant declines.
At Slovenia’s Ljubljana Airport (LJU), traffic in 2021 rose by 46.4 per cent to 421,934 passengers year-on-year (2019 comparison: down 75.5 per cent). In December 2021, LJU received 45,262 passengers (December 2019 comparison: down 47.1 per cent). The Brazilian airports in Fortaleza (FOR) and Porto Alegre (POA) combined served about 8.8 million passengers in 2021, up 31.2 per cent from 2020 (2019 comparison: down 43.2 per cent). The December 2021 traffic volume for both FOR and POA reached about 1.2 million passengers (December 2019 comparison: down 19.9 per cent). Traffic at Peru’s Lima Airport (LIM) grew to some 10.8 million passengers (2019 comparison: down 54.2 per cent). LIM welcomed approximately 1.3 million passengers in December 2021 (December 2019 comparison: down 32.7 per cent).
Fraport’s 14 Greek regional airports benefited from resurging holiday travel in 2021. Compared to 2020, traffic jumped by over 100 per cent to around 17.4 million passengers (2019 comparison: down 42.2 per cent). During December 2021, the Greek regional airports welcomed a total of 519,664 passengers (December 2019 comparison: down 25.4 per cent). On Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast, the Twin Star airports of Burgas (BOJ) and Varna (VAR) achieved a noticeable 87.8 per cent increase to about 2.0 million passengers (2019 comparison: down 60.5 per cent). BOJ and VAR together registered a total of 66,474 passengers in December 2021 (December 2019 comparison: down 28.0 per cent).
With some 22.0 million passengers in 2021, Turkey’s Antalya Airport (AYT) recorded an increase of more than 100 per cent compared to 2020 (2019 comparison: down 38.2 per cent). Here too, tourist traffic made a particularly positive and strong impact during the summer months. In December 2021, AYT received 663,309 passengers (December 2019 comparison: down 23.9 per cent). Russia’s Pulkovo Airport (LED) in St. Petersburg recorded a 64.8 per cent rise in traffic year-on-year to 18.0 million passengers (2019 comparison: down 7.9 per cent). LED attracted some 1.4 million passengers in the December 2021 reporting month, representing an increase of 67.8 per cent versus the same month in 2020 (2019 comparison: up 3.3 per cent). At China’s Xi’an Airport (XIY), the traffic recovery underway during the course of 2021 plunged dramatically at the end of the year – due to a strict Covid-19 lockdown in this central Chinese metropolis. Thus, XIY’s traffic reached 30.1 million passengers for the entire 2021 year, representing a decline of 2.9 per cent compared to 2020. (2019 comparison: down 36.1 per cent). In December 2021, traffic at XIY fell by 72.0 per cent to 897,960 passengers (December 2019 comparison: down 76.2 per cent).