Frankfurt Airport’s new Pier A-Plus - the 800 meter-long westward expansion of Terminal 1 - has opened on schedule after four years of construction.

Flight operations will begin on October 10th at the new pier, allowing Germany’s biggest hub to serve up to six million additional passengers per year - thus a total of approximately 65 million passengers per year.

This €700 million terminal complex will be exclusively used by Deutsche Lufthansa AG and its Star Alliance partners. 

In particular, Pier A-Plus provides more docking positions for serving wide body aircraft like the Airbus A380 superjumbo and the Boeing B747 family.

“The new Pier A-Plus represents a quantum leap in Fraport’s strategy to secure the competitiveness and future capabilities of Frankfurt Airport,” says Fraport executive board chairman Stefan Schulte. 

“We’ve created additional space for up to six million passengers per year. 

“This extra capacity will allow us to meet traffic growth expected in the coming years and to strengthen our role as one of the world’s leading aviation hubs.

“This terminal expansion also sets new standards for the travel experience of our passengers and for terminal management. 

“Our guests from around the world will benefit from advanced handling facilities and a wide range of shops and restaurants.  Easier transferring between short-haul and long-haul flights will result in enhanced comfort of our customers.”

Pier A-Plus adds 185,000m2 of total useable floor space and is the largest above-ground construction project at Frankfurt Airport since the opening of Terminal 2 in 1994.

It provides seven docking positions for long-haul aircraft: four designed for double-decker jets like the A380 superjumbo served by three passenger bridges (one for the upper deck and two for the main deck), and three more positions with two passenger bridges for aircraft like the Boeing 747-8 and Airbus 340.

Alternatively, eleven narrow body jets can be handled simultaneously at Pier A-Plus - ensuring optimum flexibility.