New cargo record for Frankfurt Airport

Frankfurt Airport has achieved a new record high in cargo throughput in August.

With 171,711 metric tons of airfreight and airmail handled - an increase of 12.9 percent compared to the same month last year. However aircraft movements declined from the previous year's level by 400 to 42,785 takeoffs and landings. Accumulated maximum takeoff weights (MTOWs) fell 1.3 percent from the comparable month in 2005 to 2,475,584 metric tons.

"We can no longer meet the major airlines' requests for attractive landing and departure slots and increasingly have to decline their requests," explained Fraport AG's executive board chairman Dr. Wilhelm Bender. "This was also a reason why FRA could garner only a limited share of the 4.5 percent annual growth in global air traffic in the past."

"Our traffic growth now occurs elsewhere," said Bender, referring to the high growth rates at some other major airports in Germany and Europe. Frankfurt will continue to incur stagnation until the urgently needed capacity expansion is implemented. At hub airports like Frankfurt, many international airlines require not only a few but a large number of takeoff and landing slots that dovetail with their individual route networks. Therefore, the capacities apparently freed up by the slight decrease in aircraft movements at FRA do not offer relief.

"Because of its excellent geographic location and infrastructure Frankfurt has the optimal prerequisites for maintaining its position as one of the leading global air transportation hubs in the future," stressed Bender. "However, we urgently need to implement Frankfurt Airport's planned expansion program to remain competitive in the future and to gain the airline alliances' long-term commitment to the FRA air transportation hub."