Passenger and cargo traffic at Frankfurt Airport (FRA) declined sharply in April 2026 following six days of strike action that disrupted Lufthansa operations and affected around 500,000 travellers.
FRA handled approximately 4.8 million passengers during the month, representing an 11.0% decrease compared with April last year. The downturn was largely attributed to industrial action organised by the Vereinigung Cockpit pilots’ union and the UFO cabin crew union.
Cargo volumes, including airfreight and airmail, also felt the impact of the strikes. Reduced operations at Lufthansa Cargo and lower belly freight capacity on passenger flights saw cargo throughput fall by 0.6% year-on-year to 168,526 metric tonnes.
Aircraft movements at Frankfurt dropped by 11.6% to 34,623 take-offs and landings, while accumulated maximum take-off weights (MTOWs) declined by 10.2% to around 2.2 million metric tonnes.
Across Fraport’s international airport portfolio, results were mixed, partly influenced by the timing of the Easter holiday period, which fell entirely in April last year.
Ljubljana Airport in Slovenia recorded one of the strongest performances, with passenger numbers rising 14.5% year-on-year to 143,799 travellers. Fraport’s Brazilian airports in Fortaleza and Porto Alegre also posted growth, handling a combined 1.1 million passengers, up 5.0%.
In contrast, Lima Airport in Peru saw traffic fall by 3.5% to around 2.0 million passengers. The 14 Greek regional airports welcomed a combined 1.8 million passengers, marking growth of 3.2%.
Bulgaria’s coastal airports in Burgas and Varna handled 117,574 passengers overall, down 8.2% year-on-year, while Antalya Airport on Türkeye’s Mediterranean coast reported a 10.3 per cent decline to 2.3 million passengers.
Overall, passenger traffic across all airports actively managed by Fraport fell by 6.2% year-on-year to approximately 12.2 million passengers in April 2026.
