The boss of Frankfurt Airport operator Fraport has called for the new German government to act “quickly” to ensure the country’s aviation sector becomes more competitive.
Germany’s main hub airport has been slower to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic than most of Europe’s other major airports, such as London Heathrow, with passenger traffic in April still 11.5 per cent lower than in April 2019.
Fraport CEO Stefan Schulte told the company’s annual general meeting on Tuesday (27 May) that the German market “continues to experience weak growth, chiefly due to costs imposed by regulators”.
Despite this, the group still achieved record revenue (€4.4 billion) and operating profit (€1.3 billion) in 2024 thanks to the strength of its airports outside Germany – many of which enjoyed record-breaking years. Fraport also operates airports in Greece, Turkey, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Peru and Brazil.
“Without the strong performance in our international business, our group would not be doing nearly as well,” Schulte told shareholders. “This is primarily due to the weak development of the German market following the coronavirus pandemic.
“While many other European countries are close to 2019 levels or are already setting new records, the German market is losing ground. The main reason for this is the high regulatory location costs, which have continued to rise in recent years.”
Schulte added that the new government’s coalition agreement “contains the prospect of relief”, which would make the German aviation market “more attractive again” and needed to be “implemented quickly”.
He stressed that Frankfurt still enjoyed the “best hub connectivity” in the world, with its largest airline Lufthansa expanding services from the airport by relocating six Airbus A350s this summer.
Frankfurt is also set to benefit from the opening of its new Terminal 3 next year. The project, which is currently under construction, will increase the airport’s capacity by 25 million passengers per year when fully developed. It is due to open after Easter 2026.
“This will ensure the long-term competitiveness of our home hub and offer our employees and the German economy a high-performance business location,” added Schulte.
In the shorter term, he is also “generally optimistic about the outlook” for this summer at Frankfurt, while admitting that “geopolitical developments and international tariff disputes are currently making forecasts challenging”.