FRA/rap-ten> Frankfurt Airport (FRA) welcomed more than 4.8 million passengers in August 2003, 2.7 percent more than during the corresponding month last year. The absolute peak day of 2003 to date was recorded on August 30, when more than 170,000 passengers used FRA. Because of the summer school holidays, tourist destinations in particular recorded strong growth: e.g., the Dominican Republic, the Canary Islands, Greece, and low-cost destinations in Egypt, Tunisia, Bulgaria and Romania. Intercontinental traffic also increased. In this segment, services to the Middle East and North America served as the growth engine. The Far East also registered increases again, particularly because of strong growth in traffic to and from India.

Cargo traffic at Frankfurt Airport also climbed. Some 124,268 metric tons of airfreight were handled at Germany's busiest airport in August 2003, a 0.5-percent increase over the same month last year. Noticeable growth rates were registered on routes to the Middle East and Far East, whereas airfreight volumes on services to North America declined.
In August 2003, airmail tonnage at FRA dropped 17.3 percent to 9,439 metric tons. This decline was due to reduced services in Deutsche Post's domestic overnight airmail network which is based at Frankfurt Airport.

Fraport recorded 40,223 aircraft movements at FRA in the reporting month, a 1.1-percent decrease over August 2002. In contrast, Maximum Take-off Weights (MTOWs) increased by one percent to some 2.3 million metric tons.

Frankfurt Airport's passenger traffic volumes between January and August 2003 slipped only 1.3 percent below the corresponding figure for last year. Fraport expects passenger traffic for the entire 2003 to be almost on the same level as in 2002, with a decline of only about one percent.

For More Information, Please Contact:
Fraport AG Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide
Attn: Robert A. Payne - Manager International Press
60547 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Tel.: +49 69 690 -78547 / Fax: +49 69 690 -60548
E-Mail: r.payne@fraport.de / Internet: www.fraport.com