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.
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).
