Fraport: Start of Frankfurt Airport's Expansion...

FRANKFURT, Germany, January 20 /PRNewswire/ --

- Bender: "Strong Signal to the Capital Market"

    FRA/rap-th> Fraport AG considers today's commencement of work
on the capacity expansion of Frankfurt Airport (FRA) "a great day for the
entire German aviation industry and a signal to the capital market
underscoring FRA's future competitiveness." The company's executive board
chairman Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Bender explained, "the expansion keeps Fraport on
course for staying competitive in the future." Fraport's CEO said, "the new
landing runway and the planned Terminal 3 provide the foundation for economic
growth and a noticeable increase in jobs at the airport and throughout the
region."



    Bender pointed out that FRA is not only one of the biggest
construction sites but also one of the most significant investment locations
in Europe. Fraport alone is investing more than EUR4 billion in the expansion
of Frankfurt Airport.



    According to Bender, the expansion program is also an
important contribution to weathering the economic and financial crisis, will
help primarily the construction industry and will secure and create jobs. In
this crisis, the German federal government is rightly directing public funds
mainly to infrastructure improvement projects. In Frankfurt, a large-scale
privately-funded project is being carried out that deserves the support of
all political, economic and societal forces.



    Expansion of FRA, which has been operating at its capacity
limit for years, is urgently required to meet growing traffic demand and to
remain the premier international air transportation hub, said Bender. The
expanded runway system will allow for up to 700,000 aircraft movements per
year compared to currently about 500,000. FRA's coordinated hourly runway
capacity will rise from currently well over 80 to 126 slots - representing a
50-percent increase. "This will enable us to offer first-class service as the
world's biggest international transfer hub to the 88 million passengers
expected in the year 2020," emphasized Bender. Moreover, this will make
available a high-capacity infrastructure for the more than three million
metric tons of cargo forecast to be handled at Frankfurt Airport in 2020.



    Bender sees no reason to fear that the current financial
crisis will jeopardize FRA's long-term growth perspectives, because every
cyclical traffic decline in the past has been more than offset by rebounds
with over-proportionate growth rates. "Globalization will not only continue
but will gather momentum as soon as the crisis has bottomed out," Bender
said.



    Furthermore, the capital market's tremendous confidence in the
excellent credit worthiness and continued positive development of Fraport AG
is reflected by the approximately EUR1 billion credit volume the company was
able to secure last month in a difficult capital market environment.


    
    For Further information, Please Contact:
    Fraport AG Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide
    Robert A. Payne, B.A.A. - Manager International Press
    Press Office (Dept. UKM-PS), Corporate Communications (UKM)
    60547 Frankfurt am Main, Federal Republic of Germany
    Tel.: [phone]; Fax: [phone];
    E-mail: [e-mail]; Internet: http://www.fraport.com