Frankfurt airport operator raises outlook amid improving demand

Frankfurt Airport operator Fraport sees passenger numbers at Germany’s biggest hub reaching the upper end of its 20-25m forecast for the full year after a strong recovery in leisure travel during Q3. Fraport says that boosted by a noticeable recovery in holiday travel during the summer season, Q3 revenues jumped by four-fifths, to E634m, over the same period in 2020. The gap in passenger numbers at Frankfurt versus pre-crisis levels was cut by 45% in Q3, a trend that continued in October, largely attributed to holiday travel. It reports a similar recovery among its other airport interests, notably tourism hotspots in Greece, and Turkey’s Antalya airport. ”During the summer holiday season, these gateways even reached nearly 80% of the respective passenger volume recorded in 2019 – while exceeding more than 90% of pre-crisis levels according to the preliminary October 2021 figures,” Fraport says. That strong traffic performance, together with some Covid-related compensation one-offs at its US, Greek and Slovenian subsidiaries, prompted Fraport to raise its outlook for the full year. It now expects to make a net profit for the 12-month period, having previously guided in a range between slightly negative to slightly positive.<br/>