Fraport Traffic Figures - August 2008

FRANKFURT, Germany, September 11 /PRNewswire/ --

- Slackening Demand, Climbing Intercontinental Traffic

    Frankfurt Airport (FRA) welcomed 4,916,620 passengers in
August 2008, a 3.9 percent drop year-on-year. Airfreight throughput reached
164,791 metric tons (down 5.2 percent) and airmail 6,928 metric tons (down
9.1 percent). Aircraft movements dropped by 3.1 percent to 41,743 takeoffs
and landings. Accumulated maximum takeoff weights (MTOWs) at FRA slipped by
1.5 percent to 2,452,026 metric tons.



    The slowdown in passenger demand at FRA was triggered by
strikes within the Lufthansa Group, which spurred many customers of
short-haul and feeder routes to switch to Deutsche Bahn's rail services.
Other contributing factors include the consolidation of airlines to optimize
margins mainly due to the high cost of kerosene, weaker traffic demand during
China's visa restrictions for the Olympic Games in an otherwise strong Far
East market, and the cyclical decline in vacation travel. The outlook for the
remainder of the year continues to be optimistic because of the booking
situation for the autumn vacation period. However, the regressive business
trend and the additional streamlining of airline flight offers could impact
passenger demand in the coming months.



    Consolidation of airline flight services also affected the
cargo business in August. In addition, there were capacity utilization
problems resulting from the economic situation - which particularly affected
eastern routes. In view of the market outlook for the rest of the year,
airfreight throughput is currently not expected to recover rapidly. This also
applies for aircraft movements, because the airlines have become more
cautious in their flight schedule planning.



    Despite the slowdown in German and European traffic, Fraport
is nevertheless optimistic about passenger figures for the company's most
interesting market segment - intercontinental traffic - which rose by more
than two percent. Intercontinental passengers have an extremely positive
impact on the value creation of Fraport AG because of their higher propensity
to spend than other travelers. A 2.3 percent jump in the intercontinental
sector - which accounts for 40 percent of FRA's traffic - has been achieved
since the beginning of this year, despite the temporary weak capacity
utilization on Far East routes.



    Positive traffic development was recorded among the Fraport
Group's airports. The strongest growth rates came from Peru's Lima Airport
(LIM) with 777,909 passengers (up 8.5 percent) and Turkey's Antalya Airport
(AYT) with 1,372,855 passengers (up 8.3 percent) in August 2008.
Frankfurt-Hahn Airport (HHN) served 422,377 passengers, a two percent jump in
traffic. In Bulgaria, Burgas Airport (BOJ) registered a 0.5 percent increase
to 541,779 passengers, while Varna Airport (VAR), with 351,866 passengers,
experienced a three percent drop in traffic.



    Fraport's six majority-owned airports served a total of
8,382,987 passengers in August 2008 (down 0.4 percent). Cargo throughput
(airfreight and airmail) at the Group's airports declined by 3.6 percent to
201,230 metric tons. With 70,372 takeoffs and landings, Group-wide aircraft
movements remained practically unchanged.



    Print-quality photos of Frankfurt Airport and Fraport AG are available
free for downloading via the Internet at http://www.fraport.com (Menu: select
Press Center > then Photo Service). For TV news and information broadcasting
purposes only, we also offer free footage material for downloading via
http://fraport.cms-gomex.com.



    
    Frankfurt Airport's Traffic Figures - August 2008
    
                         August     Change (2)                Change (2)
                           2008      Aug. 08/   Jan.-Aug.     Jan.-Aug. 
                                      Aug. 07      2008          08/07

    Passengers (1)    4,916,620       -3.9 %   36,249,063         0.7 %

    Airfreight (1)      164,791       -5.2 %    1,385,001         2.1 %
     in metric tons

    Airmail               6,928       -9.1 %       58,749        -2.6 %
     in metric tons

    Aircraft             41,743       -3.1 %      326,117        -0.7 %
     Movements (3)

    MTOWs             2,452,026       -1.5 %   19,011,159         1.3 %
     in metric tons
                
    Punctuality            80.4                      74.5
     share of
     punctual
     arrivals
     and departures
     in percent

    (1) Total traffic (arrivals + departures + transit)
    (2) Change over previous year
    (3) Excluding military flights





    
    Fraport Group - Traffic Figures for August 2008
    
                                         Cargo           
                                         in metric           Aircraft
                   Passengers(1)  Change tons (incl. Change  Movements Change 
    Airports       absolute       in %   airmail)    in %    absolute  in % 
                                                  

    Frankfurt         4,916,201   -3.9    170,007     -5.3     41,743   -3.1
     (FRA)
           
    Antalya           1,372,855    8.3       n.a.     n.a.      9,123   16.6
     (AYT)(2)   
 
    Burgas (BOJ)        541,779    0.5          7    -96.9      3,978    5.3
 
    Frankfurt-Hahn      422,377    2.0      9,773     11.9      3,995   11.0
     (HHN)

    Lima (LIM)3         777,909    8.5     21,443      5.6      8,782   -3.7

    Varna (VAR)         351,866   -3.1       n.a.     n.a.      2,751   -0.7

    Fraport Group(4)  8,382,987   -0.4    201,230     -3.6     70,372    0.3

    (1) Passengers (commercial traffic: arrivals + departures + transit)
    (2) Terminal 1 + domestic terminal (adjusted for base value 2007)
    (3) Figures provided by LIM
    (4) Base value 2007 = Group Airports (majority owned) as of 2007, plus 
        AYT domestic terminal





    
    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