Routes and Airports Channel

Size matters at Frankfurt

By Kurt Hofmann
ATW's Airports Today, November, 2009, p.3

The strategy of Fraport AG to accommodate more widebody aircraft in order to increase airport volume and extend intercontinental traffic could put additional pressure on regional aircraft operators.

"Some 24% of all aircraft movements at FRA are widebodies and this share is increasing," Fraport AG CEO Stefan Schulte told ATW's Airports Today. "We want to see also bigger tubes [than regional aircraft]. Of course we know that feeder service is important." Nearly half the passengers at Frankfurt International change flights, making it the leading connecting airport in Europe, he noted. The share of smaller aircraft such as 50-seat turboprops and regional jets is marginal, but every slot is important.

Schulte said Fraport AG has a responsibility to use its infrastructure and capacity wisely. He said it already cooperates with German railway Deutsche Bahn to bring more transfer passengers to FRA via the railway system, making it one of Europe's most intermodal-efficient airport railway stations. The station currently provides 180 daily high-speed train connections throughout Germany and to other European destinations such as the Netherlands, Belgium and France. There also are a significant number of commuter trains. Rail service provides transportation to FRA for some 30% of all passengers.

While Fraport cannot force carriers to eliminate 50-seaters from their fleets, it could adopt a "dedicated charging system"--higher landing fees for smaller aircraft types--which has been done in the past to force out aircraft that created too much noise.

European Regions Airline Assn. DG Mike Ambrose is opposed to any solution that would increase fees for smaller regional aircraft in the 50/70-seat range at a hub airport. He said he wants to know why airports couldn't be "more flexible to the regional carriers and work together to find solutions instead of increasing landing fees for smaller aircraft."

FRA handled around 53.5 million passengers in 2008 with 485,700 aircraft movements, according to Airports Council International.

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