Fraport confirms April 2026 opening of FRA T3 as retail profitability rises

By Kevin Rozario | Sunday, 16 November 2025 4:48

Carriers will transfer from T2 to T3 from April. [Image: Fraport]

The new Terminal 3 at Frankfurt Airport (FRA) will begin passenger flights on 23 April 2026. Fraport Group, the gateway’s operator and owner, confirmed the exact date last week as it revealed its Q3 and nine-month (9M) results and said that T3 F&B and retail store fitting are now in progress.

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As well as putting a large 3,000sq m commercial offer in place – to be run by Frankfurt Airport Retail (FAR), the joint venture between Fraport and travel retailer Gebr. Heinemann – other vital preparations at T3 are scheduled for early next year.

“We still have infrastructure tasks ahead,” said Fraport Group CEO Stefan Schulte. Between January and April, public trials will take place, and in Q1, the people mover system will begin a regular service ahead of the opening.

With a projected capacity of 19 million passengers annually at launch, which can be increased to 25 million, T3 will reshape passenger flows and commercial opportunities at FRA. The timing of the announcement – well ahead of the 2026 summer season – suggests confidence in the operational readiness of the terminal, with a long lead-up for tenant onboarding.

In an investor call, Fraport’s CFO Matthias Zieschang said: “We will start on 23 April, and then over four weeks up to the summer holidays, we will move all airlines out of T2, as a first step, into T3, excluding Condor, Turkish Airlines, and airlines in T1. Thereafter, Condor could move to T3, but discussions are still ongoing.” If that happens, it will likely be in 2027.

Retail had the best growth across the three revenue streams. [Source: Fraport]

Frankfurt retail revenue rises

Zieschang also had a positive story to tell on the retail and retail estate business at FRA in Q3. The segment revenue increased by +3.4% to €145 million, with retail outperforming at +4.2% (see chart above). For the retail division overall, Q3 profitability grew significantly: EBITDA hit €113 million, and EBIT €89 million, helped by top-line developments and positive traffic development in the reporting period.

In Q3, retail revenue per pax also rose to €3.06 versus €3.02 in the same quarter last year. However, this increase was mostly driven by improved advertising revenue. Pure shopping and services spending per pax fell to €2.31 in the quarter, which is below Q3 2019’s €2.38 (see chart below).

Advertising gains led to retail’s improved spend per pax performance. [Source: Fraport]

In the first nine months of 2025, passenger traffic at FRA grew by +1.8% year-on-year to reach 47.6 million passengers. Both European and domestic traffic increased, with the latter benefiting from the development of feeder flights. By contrast, intercontinental traffic stagnated, in particular due to the decline in traffic to and from China.

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