GERMANY"S BIGGEST AIRPORTS REPORT HEALTHY TRAFFIC RISES

Germany's busiest airports, Frankfurt and Munich, enjoyed 6.1% and 5.5% rises respectively in passenger numbers last year, according to their annual traffic figures released today.

A total of 64.5 million passengers passed through Frankfurt, while Munich handled an all-time high of 44.6 million passengers.

According to Frankfurt Airport (FRA), European traffic served as the main growth driver, increasing by 7.4%, while intercontinental traffic rose by 4.9%.

FRA's cargo throughput (airfreight + airmail) also increased by 3.6% year-on-year to some 2.2 million tonnes.

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Fraport AG's executive board chairman, Dr Stefan Schulte, stated: "With more than 64 million passengers served in 2017, Frankfurt Airport achieved a new historic record. 

"After a challenging 2016, we are pleased that demand strengthened in 2017 and travellers could take advantage of the new flight connections at Frankfurt. 

"At the same time, this growth underscores the need for our planned expansion of terminal capacities – the new Pier G in 2020 and Terminal 3 in 2023."

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Munich Airport's dynamic growth continued in 2017 with new traffic records in several categories, including accommodating 2.3 million more last year than iun 2016.

The airport also saw a strong surge in take-offs and landings, with an increase of more than 10,000 to approximately 405,000 – a gain of 2.6%. 

Without the reduction in services by Air Berlin in the summer period, followed by that airline's bankruptcy, the increase would have been even bigger. 

Another record is reported by the airfreight segment, which achieved a total turnover of around 379,000 tons in 2017 – a 7% gain over the previous year.

"These are outstanding traffic figures, especially when we consider the turbulence the aviation industry is currently experiencing," enthuses Munich Airport's president and CEO, Michael Kerkloh.



"The massive increases once again underscore our airport's importance as one of the leading air transportation hubs in Europe."

As in previous years, passenger growth in Munich benefited in particular from above-average gains in international traffic, the strongest growth being seen in the intercontinental segment, where traffic increased by 7% to 7.3 million passengers. 

Demand was strong especially for connections from Munich to destinations in the USA.