Frankfurt Airport Remains Europe's Most Punctual Hub Airport

FRANKFURT 15. 2. 2002, Germany (ots/PROTEXT) - FrankfurtAirport (airport code = FRA) has maintained its position asEurope's most efficient hub airport, according to the Associationof European Airlines (AEA) punctuality statistics for 2001. As in2000, FRA continues to be the most punctual major hub airport inEurope, with only about 20 percent of FRA's departing flightsdelayed last year. According to international regulations, aflight is considered delayed when the actual arrival or departuretime deviates by more than 15 minutes from the original scheduledtime.

Fraport AG rejects the AEA's published description ofFrankfurt Airport as a "middle field" performer in thepunctuality ratings for 2001. Results of the AEA study show thatFRA's European competitors - major hub airports - all had higherdelay rates in 2001: 23.9 percent at London.Heathrow, 27.3percent at Amsterdam-Schiphol and 30.3 percent at Paris-Charlesde Gaulle. With a 33 percent delay rating, Milan-Malpensa Airportplaced at the end of the AEA ranking.

Airports having a hub function are always dependent ondelays, which are "imported" from other airports. Indeed, FRAoften compensates for the delays from other airports. As the AEAstatistics show, while 22.2 percent of all arriving aircraft atFRA were delayed in 2001, only 20.2 percent of all departingflights were delayed at Germany's busiest airport. In total,about 10 percent of the delays "imported" to FRA could becompensated for by FRA's particularly efficient handling on theground.

AEA's published study provides a general comparison of 27different European airports. For example, Oslo Airport, locatedin Norway, northern Europe, recorded a delay rate of 13.1percent: But Oslo Airport does not have a hub function andhandles only a small volume of traffic - 194,000 aircraftmovements and 13.9 million passengers in 2001 - in comparison toFRA. Frankfurt Airport, located in the center of Germany andEurope, is a major global hub, with 456,500 aircraft movementsand 48.6 million passengers in 2001.

ots Original Text Service: Fraport AG Internet:http://www.presseportal.de

For More Information, Please Contact: Fraport AG FrankfurtAirport Services Worldwide Attn: Robert A. Payne - ManagerInternational Press 60547 Frankfurt am Main, Germany Tel.: +49 69690 -78547; Fax: +49 69 690 -60548 E-Mail: r.payne@fraport.deInternet: www.fraport.de (click on "Press Lounge") Subscribers please note that material bearing the slug"PROTEXT" is not part of CTK's news service and is not to bepublished under the "CTK" slug. Protext is a commercial serviceproviding distribution of press releases from clients, who areidentified in the text of Protext reports and who bear fullresponsibility for their contents. APROTEXT