Frankfurt airport recorded its highest monthly passenger traffic in August since the start of the pandemic in early 2020.
The German hub, which capped the number of flights this summer to “stabilise” operations, catered for 5.2 million passengers last month, which was a 54 per cent increase on the same month in 2021, but was still 25 per cent lower than in August 2019.
Fraport, which operates Frankfurt airport, said it has “maintained its rapid growth momentum from the last few months”, with the total number of inbound and outbound flights rising by 24.6 per cent year-on-year to just under 36,000 services during August.
As a comparison, one of Frankfurt’s main competitors in Europe, London Heathrow, saw its traffic reach six million travellers in August, which was down by more than 20 per cent on pre-Covid levels as the UK airport continues to cap departing passengers at 100,000 per day.
Another major European hub, Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport, has experienced more operational difficulties this week, with a lack of security staff leading to the airport asking several airlines to cancel flights on Monday (12 September).
“After weeks of improvement, Schiphol did not expect to have to take these measures again,” said the airport in a statement.
“Schiphol regrets the situation that has arisen and understands the disappointment and frustration that it may entail for airlines and travellers.”
Fraport also operates 14 regional airports in Greece, which have already collectively surpassed their 2019 passenger numbers, illustrating again how leisure travel and smaller airports have generally recovered more quickly than the continent’s leading hubs.