In October 2018, Frankfurt Airport (FRA) welcomed almost 6.4 million passengers – an increase of 5.2% year-on-year. Thus, traffic grew at a slightly more moderate rate compared to the previous months of the year. From January to October 2018, FRA experienced accumulated growth of 8.0%.
Aircraft movements increased at a slightly disproportionately higher rate, climbing by 6.3% year-on-year to 46,551 takeoffs and landings. Cargo throughput (airfreight + airmail) contracted marginally by 1.0% to about 193,374 metric tons, reflecting lower demand in global trade. Accumulated maximum takeoff weights (MTOWs) rose by 4.1% to around 2.8 million metric tons.
Across the Group, airports in Fraport's international portfolio reported continued passenger growth. Ljubljana Airport (LJU) in Slovenia's capital city posted a 5.1% increase to 161,446 passengers. Fraport's Brazilian airports in Fortaleza (FOR) and Porto Alegre (POA) achieved combined growth of 5.2% to nearly 1.3 million passengers. The 14 Greek regional airports advanced by 6.1% overall, to almost 2.5 million passengers. The busiest airports in Fraport's Greek portfolio included Thessaloniki (SKG) with 586,683 passengers (up 6.1%), Rhodes (RHO) with 540,117 passengers (down 2.7%), and Kos (KGS) with 279,198 passengers (up 12.4%).
Peru's Lima Airport (LIM) grew moderately by 3.3% to 1.9 million passengers in the reporting month. At the Fraport Twin Star airport's in Varna (VAR) and Burgas (BOJ) on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, combined traffic soared by 26.2% to 154,661 passengers. Antalya Airport (AYT) in Turkey recorded the strongest growth in Fraport's international portfolio, with traffic rising by 29.2% to 3.7 million passengers. In October 2018, AYT reached 30 million passengers for the first time. As a result, the airport on the Turkish Riviera will hit a new all-time high for the full year. Pulkovo Airport (LED) in St. Petersburg, Russia, posted a 15.2% traffic gain to just over 1.5 million passengers. Xi'an Airport (XIY) in China welcomed nearly 4 million passengers, up 6.8%.