Fraport posts traffic figures for April 2016

With almost five million passengers served in April 2016, Frankfurt Airport (FRA) saw passenger figures decline by 2.5% compared to the same period of the previous year. FRA’s traffic performance was distorted by a number of special and base-year effects, including a public sector strike on April 27, the closure of Brussels Airport and the earlier timing of the Easter holidays, with some travellers already departing in March instead of April, as in the previous year. In marked contrast to passenger traffic, cargo (airfreight + airmail) volumes experienced strong growth, soaring by 5.0% to 181,948 metric tons.  Far East traffic was the main growth driver, with cargo tonnage to/from this region climbing by 9.0 percent. Freight volumes on routes to/from China, Japan, and India even recorded dynamic double-digit growth. While cargo throughput declined during the first three months of 2016, cumulative cargo volumes in the year to April reached positive territory again for the first time, growing by 0.5%. Despite the strike on April 27, maximum takeoff weights (MTOWs) rose by 0.2% to 2.48 million metric tons, thus even exceeding the previous April record achieved last year.  With some 39,000 takeoffs and landings, aircraft movements decreased by 2.1%.