Fraport, the parent company of Frankfurt Airport, has reported its
first positive group net profit since the start of the pandemic and says
traffic has picked up markedly in the second quarter of 2021.
On the release of the group’s interim report for the first half
of the year, the group’s CEO Dr Stefan Schulte said: "The pandemic
compensation from the German and State of Hesse governments strengthens our
equity base. This enables us to continue our investments in climate protection
and infrastructure development projects. At the same time, we have reduced our
costs significantly. Consequently, our operating result is now back in the
black again. Also thanks to our broad and diverse international airport
portfolio the Fraport Group is well positioned to benefit from the expected
recovery in air travel."
The
group said that in June 2021, passenger
numbers at Frankfurt Airport rose by almost 200 per cent year-on-year to around
1.8 million travellers. Preliminary figures indicate that this trend continued
in July, with traffic growing by some 116 per cent to about 2.8 million
passengers. FRA's passenger traffic on peak days currently reaches around 50
per cent of the level registered during the pre-pandemic record year of 2019.
Referring
to the effects of traffic growth and surges on airport operations, Schulte said:
"The sharp increase in traffic is causing operational challenges for
Frankfurt Airport, because traffic is heavily concentrated during several peak
times of the day. In addition, the current anti-Covid measures require
significantly more time and resources for terminal processes and aircraft
ground-handling operations. Working closely with our partners, we are
continuously enhancing processes, while adapting our capacities to fluctuations
in demand."
Passenger
numbers for the half year were 6.5 million, a decline of 46.6 per cent in comparison to 2020. Group revenue decreased by 10.9 per cent to €810.9 million in
the first half of 2021. Fraport's "other income" was positively
affected by the agreement of the German and State of Hesse governments to grant
the group compensation for maintaining operational readiness during the first
coronavirus lockdown in 2020. The full compensation amount of €159.8 million
had a corresponding positive effect on Group EBITDA.
The group expects passenger traffic at Frankfurt Airport to
range from less than 20 million to 25 million for the full-year 2021 and revenue
to reach about €2 billion.