The Art of Baggage Handling: Fraport Celebrates 30th Anniversary of Frankfurt Airport's Automated Baggage Conveyor

FRANKFURT am Main, 20.02.2004 (ots/PROTEXT) - More Than 400Million Suitcases Transported Quickly and Reliably with ClockworkPrecision - World's Largest Baggage System Continues to Grow

This week Fraport AG celebrated the 30th anniversary ofFrankfurt Airport's (FRA) automated baggage conveyor system.Regarded as unique in the world in terms of size, functionalityand performance, Frankfurt's baggage system - called GFA incompany jargon (short for Gepäckförderanlage in German) - hasgrow significantly over the past three decades. Resembling aminiature roller coaster of conveyor routes, the GFA nowcomprises more than 67 kilometers of guideways versus 26kilometers when it first went into regular operation in 1974.The GFA could be called a mission critical system because itgives Frankfurt Airport a strategic advantage in delivering topquality service to its airline and passenger customers fromaround the globe. "Without the GFA system, Frankfurt Airportwould not be able to perform competitively as one of the key hubsin intercontinental air transportation," said Prof. ManfredSchölch, Fraport AG's executive board vice chairman. The systemis also vital for maintaining Frankfurt Airport's quick transfertimes of 45 minutes or less. Not surprisingly, about 54 percentof FRA's 48.4 million passengers in 2003 transferred or connectedto another flight.

A technological marvel, then and today, the GFA has growninto an airport-wide system and has become more efficient thanever. In the beginning, the GFA - which automatically sorts andconveys the baggage of departing and transfer passengers -handled around 13,000 baggage items per day. Now, this is theamount sorted and conveyed during the early morning hours up toabout 07:00. Currently, the GFA handles more than 100,000 itemson peak days. Lined up in a row, these suitcases would stretchall the way from Frankfurt am Main to Heidelberg, Germany.

Major expansions to the system included: an apron station,Terminal 2 (inaugurated in 1994), the Pier A-Extension (2000),and the AIRail Terminal (FlyBaggage Station). In tandem with theairport's growth, the GFA has been expanded incrementally andadapted to new requirements. One of the milestones included thefirst migration to new control computers in 1993/94, whileoperations where ongoing. Another milestone was the constructionof a high-speed baggage transfer tunnel between Terminals 1 and2, which allows baggage to be transported at up to five metersper second. This summer, Fraport will switch over to another newgeneration of computers for running the GFA.

The concept of transporting baggage items in coded plastictray-type containers has long proven to be very successful atmajor air hubs like FRA. The reliability rate of this giganticelectromechanical workhorse is 99.65 percent. Operations areonly interrupted between 23:30 and 02:00 hours for routinemaintenance. Approximately 1,500 Fraport employees work inbaggage services and GFA operations and maintenance at FrankfurtAirport.

However, the GFA success story does not end with the 30thanniversary that was marked on February 18. New challenges lieahead. FRA's planned Airport Expansion Program (AEP) calls forthe phased construction of a new Terminal 3 on the southern sideof the airport. Terminal 3 will have its own baggage system butthis will have to be linked via a tunnel under the parallelrunways to the main GFA at Terminals 1 & 2 on the northern sideof the airport. Another challenge is that X-ray machines andother security features for 100-percent screening of hold baggagehave to be fully integrated into the GFA system by 2006.Frankfurt Airport now meets this EU security requirement using X-ray machines placed in front of the check-in counters throughoutTerminals 1 and 2.

Note to Editors: Photos of Frankfurt Airport's automatedbaggage conveyor system are available upon request.

Pressekontakt: For More Information, Please Contact: FraportAG Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide Robert A. Payne - ManagerInternational Press & PR 60547 Frankfurt am Main, Germany Tel.: +49.69.690.78547; Fax: +49.69.690.60548 E-mail:r.payne@fraport.de; Internet: http://www.fraport.de

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