Fraport Traffic Figures – January 2021: Passenger Traffic Still Down at Frankfurt Airport

Frankfurt Airport (FRA) served 882,869 passengers in January 2021, representing an 80.9 percent decline compared to the same month last year. This low demand resulted from ongoing travel restrictions imposed – and partly tightened – by governments amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

In contrast, FRA’s cargo throughput (comprising airfreight and airmail) rose by 18.1 percent to 176,266 metric tons in the reporting month. Thus, Frankfurt Airport recorded its second-highest January cargo month ever – despite the ongoing lack of capacity for belly freight (transported on passenger planes). Factors contributing to the growth in cargo tonnage included the later timing of the Chinese New Year, which is being celebrated in February. In 2020, this typically low-traffic holiday occurred in January. Aircraft movements at FRA contracted by 63.7 percent to 13,196 takeoffs and landings. Accumulated maximum takeoff weights (MTOWs) decreased by 54.5 percent to some 1.1 million metric tons.

The airports in Fraport’s international portfolio reported mixed results for January 2021, but all of them experienced traffic reductions compared to the same month last year. The pandemic situation in the respective airport regions or countries was the primary factor impacting passenger traffic during the reporting month.

Slovenia’s Ljubljana Airport (LJU) saw traffic sink by 93.5 percent year-on-year to 4,923 passengers. In Brazil, Fortaleza (FOR) and Porto Alegre (POA) registered combined traffic of 796,698 passengers, down by 47.0 percent compared to January 2020. Traffic at Peru’s Lima Airport (LIM) dipped by 62.2 percent to 775,447 travelers.

Total traffic figures for the 14 Greek regional airports declined by 82.7 percent to 108,907 passengers in January 2021. On the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, the Twin Star airports of Burgas (BOJ) and Varna (VAR) together received 22,177 passengers, down 73.4 percent year-on-year. Traffic at Antalya Airport (AYT) in Turkey shrank by 68.6 percent to 290,999 passengers. Pulkovo Airport (LED) in St. Petersburg, Russia, welcomed 925,306 passengers, down 30.3 percent. More than 2.2 million passengers traveled through China’s Xi’an Airport (XIY) in January 2021, a 36.2 percent drop compared to the same month in 2020.