Long-term planning until 2015
It is the declared goal of Fraport AG that development planning for Frankfurt Airport accurately complies with the statutory provisions and meets all zoning requirements. The guidelines for airport expansion have been set out in the 2000 Master Plan, which was presented to the public in its final version in November 2002. This master plan combines all planning relevant for the development of airport facilities and installations until the year 2015.
The three key elements of the master plan include:
- construction of a new runway for landings
- construction of an additional passenger terminal as well as associated facilities and installations in the south of the airport
- construction of a new maintenance base for the new A380 widebody aircraft.
New Terminal 3
In addition to the new runway, further passenger and baggage facilities as well as new aircraft maintenance facilities will be required in the future. Plans call for construction of a new passenger terminal in the south of the airport to raise the airport's current 56 million passenger capacity per year by 25 million. The project will include construction of 75 aircraft stands and docking positions and associated taxiways. Already examined in the regional planning procedure, the Terminal 3 project will also be part of the zoning application.
New A380 maintenance base for Lufthansa
In October 2007 the first A380 superjumbo was delivered to Singapore Airlines. Lufthansa and other airlines plan to operate the A380 at the Frankfurt hub. To make Frankfurt Airport fit for this new aircraft generation, a new maintenance hangar and associated facilities, additional taxiways and parking areas need to be constructed on a 20-hectare site in the south of the airport.
On January 11, 2008 the first section of the new A380 maintenance hangar in Frankfurt has been opened within around 20 months since the start of construction on the first phase of the facility. On about 25,000 square metres of floor space, there is enough room already in the completed stage of the hangar to carry out maintenance work, simultaneously, on two Airbus A380s or three Boeing 747s. The entire hangar system designed with the maintenance capacity for four A380s will be completed in 2015 and will be Europe's biggest aircraft maintenance facility.
