Air Freight Volume in Frankfurt Increased by 6.2 Percent

The Fraport Group concluded the fiscal year 2024 with growth in the key economic indicators. The international airport operator increased traffic and price-related revenues at Frankfurt Airport and in its international investment portfolio. This also benefited the Group’s result, which rose by 16.6 percent to 501.9 million euros.

(Frankfurt) “Despite headwinds, we have achieved solid business development,” says Dr. Stefan Schulte, CEO of Fraport AG. “While we had growth rates of around ten percent in Frankfurt at the beginning of 2024, passenger traffic gradually declined over the course of the year. In addition to bottlenecks in available new aircraft, the still excessively high state location costs are a significant reason. If political countermeasures are not taken, regulated location costs will continue to rise in 2025, burdening airlines by an additional 1.2 billion euros. Fortunately, many of our international investment airports showed a more positive picture with dynamic growth rates. The investments in Lima, Ljubljana, Antalya, and Greece developed particularly strongly.”

Record Values in Key Financial Indicators

Price effects and the growing number of passengers increased the total annual revenue by 10.7 percent to a new record of 4.43 billion euros (2023: 4.00 billion euros). Adjusted for revenues related to expansion investments in the international subsidiaries (IFRIC 12), revenue grew by 11.7 percent to 3.89 billion euros. The Group’s EBITDA also climbed to a new record value of 1.30 billion euros, which corresponds to an increase of 8.1 percent (2023: 1.20 billion euros). The Group’s result rose by 16.6 percent to 501.9 million euros (2023: 430.5 million euros).

The ratio of net financial debt to EBITDA remained at 6.4, the same level as the previous year (2023: 6.4). The increases in operating cash flow by 315.9 million euros to 1,179.1 million euros were overcompensated due to high outflows, particularly from investments in the completion of major expansion projects in Lima and Frankfurt. Free cash flow decreased slightly by 2.8 percent to minus 674.7 million euros (2023: minus 656.4 million euros).

Increases in Passenger and Cargo Volume

The number of passengers increased in 2024 across the Group. In Frankfurt, holiday travel traffic continued to dominate. The demand for business travel also increased, albeit with somewhat dampened dynamics. At the home hub, Fraport welcomed a total of around 61.6 million passengers. This represented an increase of 3.7 percent compared to 2023. Domestic traffic rose by two percent, still significantly below pre-crisis levels. European traffic achieved an increase of 4.2 percent. Warm water destinations and city trips were particularly in demand. Intercontinental traffic grew overall by 3.4 percent. The growth driver was the Far East traffic, which increased by 13.3 percent. The China traffic recorded the highest absolute increase, but higher volumes with Indian destinations also supported the development.

Cargo volume in Frankfurt increased by 6.2 percent compared to the previous year to around 2.1 million tons. Frankfurt, as a leading cargo hub in Europe, benefited from higher air freight demand due to e-commerce. Capacity issues in maritime transport due to geopolitical crises were additional drivers.

The international investment airports also achieved growth in most cases. The greatest dynamics compared to the previous year were recorded in Lima (+15.2 percent), Ljubljana (+13.3 percent), Antalya (+6.5 percent), and the 14 Greek airports in the Fraport portfolio (+6.4 percent). Overall, the international passenger level was above the record value of the pre-crisis year 2019 (+1.3 percent).

Significant Progress in Key Future Projects

Fraport is approaching the finish line on important expansion projects: In Lima, the opening of a new terminal is imminent. This will nearly double the capacity of the Fraport airport in the Peruvian capital to 40 million passengers in the coming months. A comprehensive expansion program at Antalya Airport will also be launched before the upcoming travel season. The warm water destination on the Turkish Riviera will then be able to welcome up to 65 million travelers per year. In Frankfurt, construction of Terminal 3 is progressing. Commissioning is planned for after Easter 2026.

At the same time, the airport operator demonstrates that the two strategic goals of growth and sustainability are not mutually exclusive: Fraport reduced greenhouse gas emissions across the Group by around 14 percent in 2024. The Group plans to achieve further significant milestones in the coming years, particularly in the procurement of green electricity. This includes the completion of a photovoltaic system with 37,000 solar panels along the west runway at Frankfurt Airport and the large-scale procurement of green electricity from an offshore wind farm in the North Sea starting in 2026.

In addition, Fraport has expanded its sustainability goals. Until now, the measures focused on reducing CO₂ emissions. The new approach is much broader and considers all climate-relevant greenhouse gases (=CO₂ equivalents). By 2045, the Fraport Group commits to achieving net zero status at all fully consolidated locations within scopes 1 and 2. Net zero means greenhouse gas neutrality. Furthermore, by 2030, Fraport aims to reduce CO₂ emissions in Frankfurt to 50,000 tons and to 95,000 tons across the Group.

Outlook

For the current fiscal year, the airport operator expects passenger traffic in Frankfurt to reach up to 64 million passengers. A moderate increase in Group EBITDA is forecasted. The Group result is expected to range from stable to slightly declining development. The reason for this is the absence of a special effect from the sale of the minority stake in Pulkovo Airport, which contributed over 40 million euros to the Group result in 2024. Due to the continued high debt of the Group, the Supervisory Board and Executive Board have decided not to propose a dividend again at this year’s Annual General Meeting. Instead, the retained earnings will flow into reserves to strengthen the equity base.

Access the Online Annual Report 2024 here

Photo: © Fraport