Fraport Traffic Figures - January 2009: Weather...

FRANKFURT, Germany, February 11 /PRNewswire/ --

- Group's Airports Largely Stable

    A series of special effects negatively impacted the January
2009 traffic figures at Frankfurt Airport (FRA) - in addition to the fall in
demand for cargo and passenger volumes caused by the weak economy. These
effects included strikes by Deutsche Lufthansa cabin personnel and tough
winter weather conditions compared to the previous year and led to an over
proportionate number of flight cancellations - also at other airports in
Europe and North America. Furthermore, DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung (Germany's
air traffic control company) suffered a breakdown in the transmission of
weather data, which resulted in extensive flight cancellations.



    In total, hundreds of flights had to be cancelled at FRA
during January 2009. On top of this, extended factory holidays in the
automobile industry resulted in a decline in flight bookings and cargo
tonnage. These events, along with economic developments, led to a further
decline in traffic figures. Recording some 3.5 million passengers, FRA
experienced a 10.4 percent traffic drop year-on-year. Cargo throughput shrank
by 23.5 percent to 124,208 metric tons of airfreight and airmail. Aircraft
movements dropped by seven percent to 35,448 takeoffs and landings compared
to January 2008, due partly to precautionary measures by certain airlines to
temporarily reduce their flight schedules. Accumulated maximum takeoff
weights (MTOWs) slid by 6.1 percent in January 2009 to approximately 2.1 
million metric tons.



    The majority-owned airports of the Fraport Group largely
recorded stable development in passenger traffic during January 2009. In
particular, the important foreign airports of Antalya (AYT) in Turkey and
Lima (LIM) in Peru registered continuing passenger growth of 8.3 percent and
9.2 percent, respectively. Fraport's two airports on the Black Sea coast of
Bulgaria changed positions during the usually slow winter period, with Burgas
sliding by 35.5 percent and Varna surging ahead by 31.1 percent in January
2009.



    Nevertheless, overall figures for the Group dropped in January
2009 because FRA accounts for a major portion of the Group's traffic.
Passenger traffic fell by 6.5 percent, cargo tonnage sank by 22.7 percent and
aircraft movements declined by 5.8 percent.



    Frankfurt-Hahn Airport (HHN) is no longer published in the
Group's traffic statistics because of Fraport's recent sale of the airport,
retroactively to January 1, 2009.



Frankfurt Airport - Traffic Figures for January 2009

    
                               January 2009    Change [2]
                                                Jan. 09/
                                                Jan. 08


    Passengers [1]                3,547,061       -10.4% 
                
    Airfreight [1]                  119,241       -23.6%
     in metric tons
                
    Airmail                           6,790       -16.2%
     in metric tons
                   
    Aircraft Movements [3]           35,448        -7.0%
                        
    MTOWs                         2,078,149       -6.1 %
     in metric tons
 
    Punctuality                        77.7
     share of punctual arrivals
     and departures in percent

    ---------------------------------
    [1] Total traffic (including General Aviation)
    [2] Change over previous year
    [3] Excluding military flights





Fraport Group - Traffic Figures for January 2009

    
                                         Cargo            Aircraft
     Airports    Passengers[1] Change  in metric  Change  Movements   Change
                   absolute     in %     tons      in %   absolute     in %  
                                       (incl.
                                        airmail)

    Frankfurt     3,546,740  -10.4   124,208     -23.5      35,448      -7.0
     (FRA)
           
    Antalya         327,880    8.3      n.a.      n.a.       2,838       1.0
     (AYT)[2]
      
    Burgas            4,215  -35.5        35     -82.0         156     -51.7
     (BOJ)
                                     
 
    Lima            728,324    9.2    17,561     -16.3       8,147      -0.7
     (LIM)[3]

    Varna            20,121   31.1         5     177.8         434      -2.9
     (VAR)

    Fraport       4,627,280   -6.5   141,809     -22.7      47,023      -5.8
    Group 

    ------------------------------
    [1] Passengers (commercial traffic: arrivals + departures + transit)
    [2] Terminal 1 + domestic terminal
    [3] Figures provided by Lima


    
    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