Frankfurt Airport (FRA) has recorded a significant recovery in passenger demand across 2023. In total, some 59.4 million passengers travelled via Germany’s largest aviation hub in 2023 – representing a 21.3% increase compared to 2022. However, passenger numbers for 2023 remained 15.9% below the pre-crisis 2019 level.
Aircraft movements in Frankfurt climbed by 12.6% year-on-year in 2023 to 430,436 take-offs and landings (2019 comparison: down 16.2%). Likewise, accumulated maximum take-off weights (or MTOWs) grew by 11.4% year-on-year to around 27 million metric tonnes (2019 comparison: down 15.3%).
FRA’s cargo throughput (comprising airfreight and airmail) slipped by 3.9% year-on-year in 2023 to some 1.9 million metric tonnes (2019 comparison: down 9.3%). Factors contributing to this slowdown included the airspace restrictions across Europe and a sluggish economy resulting from global geopolitical uncertainties. Â
Most of the airports in Fraport’s international portfolio saw traffic surge during 2023. Slovenia’s Ljubljana Airport (LJU) led the line in 2023, with traffic soaring by 30.9% year-on-year to about 1.3 million passengers (2019 comparison: down 26.2%). In December 2023, LJU counted 87,378 passengers (up 44.4% year-on-year).
Fraport’s 14 Greek regional airports registered traffic growth of 11.8% year-on-year in 2023 to some 33.9 million passengers overall (2019 comparison: up 12.3%). In December 2023, the Greek airports served a total of 754,184 passengers (up 12.7% year-on-year).
On the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, the Fraport Twin Star airports of Burgas (BOJ) and Varna (VAR) also showed a positive performance during 2023. Combined traffic at BOJ and VAR rose by 17.9% year-on-year to around 3.7 million passengers (2019 comparison: down 25.8%). In December 2023, BOJ and VAR reported a slowdown of 13.1% year-on-year to a total of 90,473 passengers.
Traffic at Antalya Airport (AYT) on the Turkish Riviera advanced by 15.0% year-on-year in 2023 to approximately 35.7 million passengers (2019 comparison: up 0.7%). In December 2023, AYT welcomed about 1.0 million passengers (up 9.3% year-on-year)
The Brazilian airports of Fortaleza (FOR) and Porto Alegre (POA) saw combined 2023 traffic gain 5.2% year-on-year to about 13.1 million passengers (2019 comparison: down 15.7%). Passenger numbers at FOR and POA for December 2023 dipped by 0.6% to around 1.1 million.
Traffic at Lima Airport (LIM) in Peru’s capital city grew by 14.1% year-on year in 2023 to some 21.3 million passengers (2019 comparison: down 10.1%). Around 2.0 million passengers used LIM in December 2023 (up 14.0% year-on-year).
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