Frankfurt Airport (FRA) reported nearly doubled its traffic figure from 2021 for full-year 2022, registering 48.9 million passengers, representing a 97.2% rise.

 

To put the performance in context, FRA’s overall passenger volume was still down by 30.7% in 2022 vs 2019 (pre-Covid).

 

Airport operator Fraport confirms that at the the beginning of 2022 demand was underwhelming, as concerns about the spread of the omicron variant of the coronavirus were still prevalent. But from March 2022, Fraport observed dynamic traffic growth.

 

Leisure travel benefited from a rebound in demand as travel restrictions and quarantine measures were gradually lifted and during peak periods in 2022, Frankfurt Airport registered triple-digit growth compared to 2021; spiking by 300% in April.

 

Demand for business travel also recovered steadily towards the end of the year.

Fraport AG’s CEO, Stefan Schulte, said: “2022 was a very turbulent and challenging year for the entire aviation industry.

 

“Following the lockdowns at the start of the year, the sudden and sharp increase in demand put a heavy strain on all process partners ramping up operations.

 

“Due to the complexity of the system, air traffic operations had a shaky restart at many airports – including in Frankfurt.

 

“On the positive side, our worldwide Group airports focusing on tourism traffic showed a highly encouraging performance in 2022.

 

“The airports in Greece even exceeded pre-crisis levels, for the first time since the outbreak of the pandemic. Looking ahead, we are confident to see further growth in 2023.

 

“People are eager to travel, and we are working full speed to ensure that passengers have the best possible airport experience. Nevertheless, the situation remains challenging.”

 

In December 2022, nearly 4m passengers travelled via Frankfurt Airport, up 46.2% compared to December 2021.

 

All airports actively managed by the Fraport Group around the globe reported strong growth during 2022, with Fraport’s Greek airports in the lead.

 

Combined 2022 traffic figures for the Greek gateways even exceeded the 2019 pre-crisis levels for the first time since the pandemic.