Fraport, the group
which manages Frankfurt Airport and 30 other airports around the world, has
announced a net loss of €690.4 million, against a net profit of €454.3 million
in 2019. Revenues fell by 54.7 per cent year-on-year to €1.68 billion.
In 2020, passenger
traffic at Frankfurt Airport dropped by 73.4 per cent year-on-year to 18.8 million
travellers. Passenger numbers were also markedly down at Fraport’s Group
airports worldwide, with declines ranging from 34 per cent at Xi’an Airport in
China to 83 per cent at Slovenia’s Ljubljana Airport.
Fraport AG’s
executive board chairman, Dr Stefan Schulte, said: “Aviation
has been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, we are now seeing the
light at the end of the tunnel. The rollout of vaccination programs and
greater availability of testing options provide the prerequisites for air
traffic to rebound.”
The group said it had already made annualised savings on non-staff costs of between €100 million and €150 million. On staff numbers, it said it would cut 4,000 jobs mainly by the
end of 2021 reducing personnel costs by up to €250 million compared to 2019. In
November the group announced it had delayed the new Terminal 3 at
Frankfurt Airport which is now scheduled to become operational in 2026.
Fraport forecasts that traffic at Frankfurt Airport will be between 20 million and
25 million passengers in 2021 with revenue for the group expected to reach approximately €2
billion. As a result, the group is forecasting a net loss for 2021.
The group has more than €3 billion in cash, committed credit lines and other financing available.