Pioneering Airports -- Via Frankfurt Worldwide

Fraport AG Frankfurt Airport Services is a leading player and pioneer in the global airport management industry. The company's expertise is based on over 75 years of aviation history at Frankfurt -- to the founding in 1924 of its predecessor company, Südwestdeutschen Luftverkehrs AG. With its highly successful initial public offering in 2001, Fraport become the second largest publicly listed airport group in the world. Around the world Fraport is active at some 50 locations. Fraport is renowned for its highly efficient Frankfurt Airport (FRA) hub, Europe's strategic “Gateway to the World” that features an excellent location, fast connections to ground and air networks, and access to huge markets.

FRA welcomed more than 48.5 million passengers and handled over 1.6 million metric tons of airfreight and airmail in 2001 – ranking it number seven worldwide for both passenger and cargo traffic (ACI 2001 figures). Located in the heart of Germany and the new Europe, Frankfurt has served as a major trading centre and crossroads for over 12 centuries. Today, FRA plays a vital role in continuing this tradition on a global scale. FRA is the major driving force of the dynamic Frankfurt/Rhine-Main region. Home of the euro and the European Central Bank, the Frankfurt region is a leading centre for international trade fairs, banking and finance, IT services, research, logistics, and international companies. Interestingly, FRA’s leading role in international aviation is far greater than the Frankfurt region’s modest population of about 2.5 million. However, FRA boasts the largest extended catchment area of any European airport – more than 35 million inhabitants within a 200-kilometer radius of FRA. Getting people and goods quickly to and from the airport has always been a high priority for Fraport.

Global Network
FRA is the home base of the Lufthansa fleet and the main European hub for the Star Alliance. In total, over 100 scheduled passenger airlines link FRA with almost 300 destinations in about 100 countries worldwide. Some 50 passenger and cargo charter airlines complement this truly global network. Frankfurt Airport enjoys an excellent reputation as an expeditious hub. Using advanced technology and optimised procedures, Fraport’s ground-handling teams and apron-control experts ensure that FRA has the best punctuality performance of Europe’s major hub airports (Association of European Airlines statistics). Over 50 percent of FRA’s passengers – more than any other European airport – are transferring to other flights. They rely on the airport’s Sky Line people-mover and the world’s largest automated baggage handling system (over 67 kilometres of guideways) for transferring quickly.

Intermodal Travel
Fraport AG is an internationally recognized pioneer of intermodal transport networks, particularly air/rail/road links at FRA since 1972. August 2002 marked the inauguration of Deutsche Bahn’s new high-speed rail track between the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main – including FRA’s AIRail Terminal – and Cologne/Bonn (Rhine-Ruhr) economic regions. This will enable more and faster rail connections. Travel times have been cut in half to under one hour between FRA and downtown Cologne – thus making combined air/rail travel even more attractive. Along with better access to FRA’s extended catchment region, the new line will serve as a key link in the future trans-European high-speed rail network. Since March 2001, Fraport, Deutsche Bahn and Lufthansa have been jointly offering the AIRail Service between Stuttgart central train station and FRA. This premium service provides fast and seamless connections, including baggage checked right through to the final flight destination. Eventually, this service could be expanded to Cologne, Düsseldorf and other cities. In December 2002, high-speed trains from Brussels and Amsterdam will also be serving FRA.

Expanding FRA
In the coming years, Fraport AG will be implementing the biggest expansion in the history of Frankfurt Airport. FRA – the home base and “showcase airport” for Fraport’s projects around the globe – is being developed as an intermodal superhub of the 21st century. Fraport’s vision for FRA calls for doubling retail space at Terminals 1 and 2 to 20,000 square meters by 2007; high-speed rail services, adding new maintenance facilities and modifying the runway/taxiway system for the A380 super jumbo; and launching the Airport Expansion Program. With average passenger growth of some five percent per year expected in the years to come, FRA needs to stretch beyond its boundaries. The political and administrative approval process is already well advanced for Fraport’s new €3.3 billion Airport Expansion Program. FRA will get a fourth runway in 2006, which will result in a 50-percent increase in runway capacity. The new Terminal 3 will be built in phases, the first scheduled for 2007), and will have a total design capacity of 25 million passengers per year (greater than Munich Airport today). The airport's Sky Line people-mover and central baggage system will be extended to Terminal 3, thus ensuring FRA's quick transfer times at the new terminal. By 2015, FRA will be able to serve well over 80 million passengers per year and about 2.8 metric tons of air cargo. At "Europe's Gateway to the World”, Fraport is planning the future today for the benefit of travellers and aviation everywhere.

Find out more at www.fraport.com