Environmental aspects

The following sections explain the environmental aspects important to Fraport AG.

An overview of the relevant impacts, sources, responsibilities, indicators and trends is provided for each of these environmental aspects. All the aspects are evaluated in terms of their materiality and the extent to which they can be influenced. Fraport AG’s management approaches detail the activities that Fraport AG carries out in order to reduce its environmental impact.

Conscious of its responsibility, Fraport is actively committed to reducing its noise footprint in the region.

Fraport’s climate protection targets help it to become more energy-efficient.

Aircraft and vehicle operations, mobile equipment and the supply of energy such as electricity and district heating and cooling generate CO2 emissions at Frankfurt Airport.

Through its climate protection targets, Fraport AG is committed to improving energy efficiency and implements various measures to reduce carbon emissions. The environmental pollution caused by electricity consumption is falling particularly sharply as Fraport uses more and more power generated from renewable energy sources. 

Fraport is committed to energy-saving measures

The main forms of energy used at Frankfurt Airport are electricity and district heating. Rising energy consumption reflects the continuous expansion of infrastructure and the growth in traffic volume, which Fraport is countering through energy efficiency measures.

Fraport is targeting environmentally friendly mobility

Frankfurt Airport is a truly intermodal transport hub, with road, rail and air services closely interlinked. This enables both passengers and employees to take public transport to and from the airport and thus help to protect the environment. 

Mobility and accessibility are among the key prerequisites if today’s transport and economic policy is to be shaped in an economically efficient and socially responsible way. Fraport AG will continue to improve intermodal services in an effort to increase the percentage of passengers using public transport to travel to and from the airport.

“Sustainable mobility” means avoiding environmentally unfriendly methods of transport wherever possible. There also needs to be a shift toward environmentally friendly routes and means of transport, which has to be made socially and environmentally responsible. 

Fraport regularly records and publishes data on air quality.

Flight operations are the main contributor to the airport’s emissions, followed by emissions on the ground caused by apron and vehicle traffic in and around the airport. Nitrogen oxides (NOx) make up the largest percentage of pollutants from aircraft emissions. NOx values are currently on a par with figures from previous years.

Since 2002, Fraport has recorded air pollutants on the airport grounds at up to five measuring stations on a continuous basis. Fraport AG publishes detailed information on air quality every year in its Air Quality Report.

Fraport charges emissions-based take-off and landing fees. The use of alternative, emission-free drives is helping to improve air quality.

Fraport’s biotope management helps to minimize the risk of bird strikes, among other things.

Frankfurt Airport owns land spanning a total area of 22.97 square kilometers (2016 figures). Unsurfaced areas on the premises are covered with greenery as a basic principle. Green spaces of some 600 hectares in size lie between the southern parallel runway system and Runway 18 West.

As the airport’s operator, Fraport AG is obliged to minimize the risk of bird strikes. As a collision with individual birds and, in particular, with flocks of birds poses a hazard for aircraft, we focus on targeted biotope management. In other words, Fraport designs the airport grounds to be unattractive for bird species that could endanger aircraft.

Fraport is reducing the consumption of drinking water and using more process water.

Frankfurt Airport is making increased use of rainwater, treated water from the River Main, and well water. This has cut the consumption of drinking water.

Fraport operates several facilities for treating rainwater, which turn rain- and groundwater into process water. Water from the Main is fed into the treatment facilities during periods of low rainfall to ensure an adequate supply of process water. The company is thus steadily expanding its use of this kind of water. 

Constant capacity utilization and systematic monitoring: Fraport AG’s drainage networks

Fraport AG has a responsibility to operate and utilize drainage networks. The company runs two separate sewer systems for waste- and rainwater in order to keep capacity utilization in the sewage treatment plants constant and prevent them from being overburdened by large volumes of rainwater.

Systematic monitoring analyzes the quality and volumes of the wastewater flows to ensure that limits are complied with.

How Fraport handles hazardous goods reliably and responsibly

Frankfurt Airport is Germany’s largest airport for cargo and has dedicated operational areas for this purpose. Whether it is express freight, air mail or hazardous goods that need to be moved, everything is in good hands with Fraport.

With their many years’ experience and expertise, the employees at Fraport AG ensure the ultra-reliable and professional handling of hazardous goods.

Fraport AG’s Dangerous Goods and Radiation Protection Officer monitors compliance with the relevant rules and regulations on an ongoing basis.

Before any chemical products are purchased, the company checks whether they can be substituted for more environmentally friendly alternatives. For instance, the subsidiary N*ICE Aircraft Services & Support is already using environmentally sustainable technologies to de-ice aircraft.

Fraport is committed to recycling and avoiding waste.

Waste management has changed fundamentally since the early 1990s. The German Waste Management Act (Kreislaufwirtschaftsgesetz – KrWG) entered into force in June 2012, signaling an end to the “throwaway society” and a major step toward a circular economy.

Working together with airlines, suppliers and other companies, Fraport AG is committed to avoiding waste in the first place. If any is produced, the company will do its utmost to recycle the materials it contains or turn it into energy or heat, for example.