Fraport Traffic Figures - February 2005: Growth Dampened by Special Effects

FRANKFURT 11.03.2005 (PROTEXT/ots) - As expected, FrankfurtAirport's (FRA) traffic figures for February 2005 did not grow asstrongly as in the past. Absence of the leap day, which occurredin February 2004, alone resulted in nearly a four percent drop inpassenger traffic - without this leap-day effect passengerfigures would have been level. However, in February 2005 trafficslipped 3.8 percent to 3.4 million passengers compared to thecorresponding month last year.

Other factors contributing to dampened growth in February2005 included the strong and prolonged winter worldwide,especially in many regions of Europe as well as North America.As a result, FRA was also somewhat affected by flightcancellations and delays. Furthermore, President George W. Bush'svisit to Germany on February 23 led to the temporary closure ofFRA's runway system, which caused some additional flight delaysand cancellations.

Winter holiday regions favoured by Europeans - particularlyTurkey, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, and NorthAfrica - also registered noticeable increases. However,intercontinental traffic to South Africa and South Americaremained the growth engine.

Airfreight continued its positive growth trend, increasing byabout one percent to 138,802 metric tons in February 2005. Theincrease was lower than in 2004, because the reporting month didnot have a leap-day and because the days of the week felldifferently. February 2004 had five of the typically traffic-intensive Sundays, compared to only four in February 2005.Furthermore, this year the Chinese New Year's festival fell inFebruary. As a result, production in Asian growth marketsstopped and less airfreight tonnage was shipped.

Maximum takeoff weights (MTOWs) continued to increase inFebruary 2005, climbing by one percent to two million metric tons- confirming the tendency of airlines to continue using largeraircraft at FRA. The number of aircraft movements decreasedslightly to 35,906 takeoffs and landings. As expected, the totalvolume of airmail also dropped in February 2005 by about 13percent to 8,808 metric tons, due to the ongoing phase-out ofFRA's domestic overnight airmail network.

The Fraport Group's six airports welcomed about 4.7 millionpassengers in February 2005, representing a 1.9 percent year-on-year decline. Airfreight (including airmail) tonnage for theGroup grew by 1.5 percent to 172, 259 metric tons. AntalyaAirport (AYT) profited from being a preferred winter-vacationdestination by recording strong single-digit growth in passengertraffic. Despite the missing leap-day, the number of passengersat AYT climbed in February 2005 by 9.2 percent to 342,100.

The consolidation of flight offers in the low-cost carrier(LCC) market made a noticeable showing on Frankfurt-HahnAirport's (HHN) figures. In February 2005, HHN's traffic grew bya moderate three percent to 191,585 passengers. The cargo volumeat HHN grew markedly faster, increasing by eight percent to15,011 metric tons - mainly because of strong growth in freighterflights. Lima Airport (LIM) in Peru, South America, registered a4.9 percent jump in traffic to 414,605 passengers. Strong exportsled to double-digit growth of 11.6 percent in cargo at LIM, withsome 10,510 metric tons handled in the reporting month.

Frankfurt Airport's Traffic Figures - February 2005

February

Change 2

Jan. - Feb.Change 2

2005

Feb.05/Feb.04

2005Jan.-Feb. 05/04Passengers 1

3,434,410

-3.8 %

7,159,335-0.3 %Airfreight 1 in metric tons

138,802

0.9 %

274,5098.8 %Airmail in metric tons

8,808

-12.9 %

18,048-13.2 %Aircraft Movements 3

35,906

-0.3 %

74,0041.5 %MTOWs 3 in metric tons 2,023,277

1.0 %

4,208,5623.8 %Punctuality share of punctual arrivals and departures in percent

67.1

69.91 Total traffic (arrivals + departures + transit, incl. generalaviation)2 Change over previous year3 Excluding military flights

Fraport Group - Traffic Figures for February 2005Airports

Passengers[1] Change Airfreight ChangeAircraft

Change

absolute

in %

in metric

in %Movements in %

tons (incl.absolute

Airmail)Frankfurt (FRA) 3,433,905

-3.8

145,256

0.135,906

-0.3Antalya2 (AYT)

342,100

9.2

n.a.

n.a.2,289

8.3Frankfurt-Hahn3 (HHN)

191,585

3.0

15,011

8.02,114

-8.3Hanover (HAJ)

293,006

-2.2

1,479

21.65,453

-2.8Lima (LIM)

414,605

4.9

10,510

11.64,905

-15.6Saarbrücken (SCN) 21,379

-10.1

2 -50.0889

-12.4Fraport Group

4,696,580

-1.9

172,259

1.551,556

-2.51 Passengers (commercial traffic: arrivals + departures +transit)2 International passengers and movements only3 Frankfurt-Hahn: includes cargo transported by truck

For More Information, Please Contact:

Fraport AG Frankfurt Airport Services WorldwideRobert A. Payne, B.A.A. - Manager International Press & PRPress Office (Dept. UKM-PS), Corporate Communications (UKM)60547 Frankfurt am Main, Federal Republic of GermanyTel.: +49 69.690.78547; Fax: +49.69.690.60548;E-mail: r.payne@fraport.de; Internet: www.fraport.de

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