During the reporting month, Frankfurt Airport achieved its busiest May on record.The total number of passengers using Germany’s international air transportation hub increased by 2.6 percent to 4,639,416 - 117,873 more passengers than in May 2005.

Cargo activity grew by even 11.4 percent to 169,365 metric tons, exceeding the previous best May figure in 2005 by 17,303 metric tons.

At Frankfurt Airport, domestic traffic alone climbed by 3.7 percent in the reporting month. In addition, FRA’s Western Europe and Northern Europe traffic also grew noticeably by 6.5 percent and 12.1 percent respectively. The Asian market increased by 7.5 percent. Within this growth, destinations in Japan (up 11.2 percent) and China (up 16.7 percent) rose particularly fast.

FRA’s airfreight business continued the pattern of unabated growth seen in past months. The freight boom caused by the magnetic effect of CargoCity and its expansion of services continued to promote growth at the beginning of the usually slow summer season. Freight traffic on volume-intensive Far East routes, which increased by 16 percent, was a major growth factor.

Airmail activity also expanded by 8.2 percent to 7,619 metric tons. Aircraft movements at FRA also climbed to 43,276 takeoffs and landings. This exceeded the previous record figure of May 2005 by 1.8 percent or 777 movements. Only accumulated maximum takeoff weights (MTOWs) dropped slightly (down 0.5 percent) below the previous year’s level to 2,446,320 metric tons.

Approximately 6,477,826 million passengers used the Fraport Group’s airports in May 2006, 2.9 percent more than in the same month last year. Some 325,163 passengers used Frankfurt-Hahn Airport (HHN) in the reporting month, a 16.6 percent jump. Hanover Airport (HAJ) registered a 1.1 percent dip to 501,831 passengers and Saarbrucken Airport (SCN) a 12.6 percent drop to 42,391 passengers. At Turkey’s Antalya Airport (AYT), redistribution of passenger flows effective since late April showed up in traffic results for the first time in May 2006. Capacity utilization of Fraport’s Antalya terminal improved noticeably in May and will continue strongly during the coming months. AYT served 501,248 passengers, up 3.2 percent. Traffic at Peru’s Lima Airport (LIM) rose by 3.8 percent to 468,611 passengers in May 2006.
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