Fraport Traffic Figures – March 2022: Upward Trend in Passenger Traffic Continues

Cargo declines amid Covid-related lockdowns in China and airspace closures over war in Ukraine – Continuing passenger growth reported at Fraport’s Group airports worldwide

Frankfurt Airport (FRA) welcomed some 2.9 million passengers in March 2022 – an increase of 217.9 percent compared to the same month last year. The lifting of pandemic-related travel restrictions only gradually started in March 2021. In the reporting month, FRA benefited from increasing travel demand, particularly to holiday destinations inside and outside Europe. Compared to pre-pandemic levels, Frankfurt Airport’s passenger numbers rebounded in March 2022 to more than half of the volume registered in the March 2019 reference month (down 47.4 percent). 1 During the first quarter of
2022, FRA’s traffic surged by 192.2 percent year-on-year to about 7.3 million passengers (Q1-2019 comparison: down 50.8 percent).

FRA’s cargo throughput (airfreight + airmail) decreased by 13.1 percent year-on-year to 181,214 metric tons in the reporting month (March 2019 comparison: down 10.5 percent). Factors contributing to this decline included China’s ongoing Covid-related lockdowns, as well as reduced airspace capacity following airspace closures due to the war
in Ukraine. In contrast, aircraft movements in March 2022 climbed by 97.0 percent year-on-year to 26,941 takeoffs and landings at FRA. Accumulated maximum takeoff weights (MTOWs) also grew by 56.4 percent year-on-year to about 1.8 million metric tons.

The airports in Fraport’s international portfolio also largely sustained their rebound in March 2022. Most of the Fraport Group airports achieved significant traffic gains in the reporting month, with some even recording growth rates of more than 100 percent year-on-year – albeit compared to strongly reduced traffic levels in March 2021.

Ljubljana Airport (LJU) in Slovenia welcomed 50,928 passengers in March 2022. At the Brazilian airports of Fortaleza (FOR) and Porto Alegre (POA), combined traffic rose to 951,474 passengers. Lima Airport (LIM) in Peru registered about 1.4 million passengers in the reporting month. At Fraport’s 14 Greek regional airports, total traffic grew to 550,155 passengers. At the Twin Star airports of Burgas (BOJ) and Varna (VAR) on the Bulgarian Riviera, traffic increased to a total of 54,999 passengers. Traffic also advanced at Antalya Airport (AYT) on the Turkish Mediterranean coast, with 832,512 passengers served in March 2022.

Editorial note: For enhanced statistical comparison, our reporting of the Fraport Traffic Figures includes (until further notice) a comparison between the current traffic figures and the corresponding 2019 base-year figures, in addition to the regular year-on-year reporting.

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