Backgrounder – June 2014
Frankfurt Airport City – Your Dynamic Gateway to the World
FRA/rap> Frankfurt Airport (FRA) serves as one of the most important aviation gateways
in the global air transportation system. Ranking among the world’s Top 20 airports, FRA
welcomed more than 58 million passengers, handled over 2.1 million metric tons of
cargo, and registered about 473,000 takeoffs and landings in 2013. “Location, location,
location” is a key FRA advantage for business and leisure traffic. Frankfurt lies in the
heart of the huge European market and at the center of Germany’s population and
industrial belt. Europe’s largest airport catchment area – 38 million people or nearly half
of Germany’s population – can be reached within a 200-kilometer radius of FRA. The
Frankfurt/Rhine-Main-Neckar region hosts many world-class exhibitions and conferences
and is centrally located to be your base for exploring Germany’s World Heritage Sites,
scenic routes, wine-growing areas, festivals and other attractions.
Like a finely-tuned precision timepiece, Frankfurt Airport is known for its Germanic
efficiency, fast connections, and many services – about 55 percent of all passengers use
Germany’s intercontinental gateway as a transfer hub. At FRA, they can find a wide
choice of airlines and flights for transferring quickly to their final destination. The airline
timetable offered at FRA is virtually unmatched. In passenger services alone, more than
100 scheduled airlines link FRA with about 300 destinations in some 100 countries – a
truly global network. Approximately two-thirds of Germany’s intercontinental passenger
and cargo air traffic is handled via FRA. Frankfurt serves as the home base of the global
Lufthansa, Lufthansa Cargo, and Condor fleets. Furthermore, FRA is the main European
hub of the Star Alliance and also a favorite gateway for other alliances. Airlines and their
passengers depend on FRA’s unique central baggage handling system with its more
than 85 kilometers of guide ways for whisking baggage around the airport.
On the ground, Frankfurt Airport also offers an equally impressive network of road and
rail connections. Germany’s most important autobahn junction, the Frankfurter Kreuz, is
located at FRA’s northeastern corner just a few hundred meters away from the
passenger terminals. This allows for quick access to high-speed A3 and A5 autobahns,
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which form the vital north-south and east-west road axis for the entire nation. Pioneering
air/rail services since 1972, FRA boasts two railway stations and probably the world’s
best air-rail links. The Long-distance Train Station has more than 180 InterCityExpress
(ICE) high-speed and other intercity train services every day:
to cities throughout
Germany and to Amsterdam, Brussels and other cities in neighboring countries. The
Regional Train Station beneath Terminal 1 is served by more than 200 commuter trains
daily. The Central Station in downtown Frankfurt is only 10 minutes away, while regional
trains link other cities throughout the region, and as far away as Koblenz and
Saarbrücken.
Fraport AG, the owner and manager of Frankfurt Airport, draws on more than 75 years at
the FRA location to meet the diverse needs of customers from around the globe.
Actually, the company’s roots can be traced back to July 1924 at the former Rebstock
airfield in Frankfurt. July 2014 will mark the 90th anniversary of the Frankfurt Airport
company. A city onto itself, FRA today directly employs more than 78,000 people at
about 500 companies and organizations. Thus, Frankfurt Airport has earned the title as
Germany’s largest employment complex at a single location. Fraport is spearheading
development of airport capacities and the evolving “airport city” concept.
In the terminals, more than 300 shops, cafes, fast and slow-food restaurants, and service
outlets await the traveler with an amazing choice of famous German and international
brands and culinary delights. Many amenities not typically seen at other airports can be
found at FRA: dentists and a 24-hour medical clinic, chapel and prayer rooms for major
religions, florist shop, winter-coat service, hair and wellness salons, and much more.
Fraport continues to enhance the FRA travel experience with its innovative “Great to Have
You Here!” quality service program launched several years ago: everything from relaxation
zones to children’s play areas, from special signage indicating walking times to departure
gates to mobile information via the FRA Airport App in different formats and languages.
Along with the new Runway Northwest (2011), Pier A-Plus (2012) and the future
Terminal 3 project (phase-one construction expected to start in 2015), exciting new real
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estate developments are changing the airport landscape and strengthening the
competitive advantages of the FRA as a global hub. For example, The Squaire encases
the rooftop of the Long-distance Train Station like a futuristic glass space ship. This
award-winning office and hotel complex houses major international tenants including
KPMG – its European headquarters here employs more than 2,000 staff – two Hilton
Hotels, as well as shops and restaurants.
At the Gateway Gardens business park near Terminal 2 new hotels, state-of-art
headquarter buildings and other facilities are becoming part of this new green city district.
Here, the House of Logistics and Mobility (HOLM) officially opened the world’s first
airport university campus in June 2014. In cooperation with universities in the region,
Fraport, and other partners, HOLM will be a center of mobility-focused higher learning,
innovation and research required for our 21st century global society that depends so
much on the sustainable movement of people, goods and information and ideas.
In meeting the challenges of the future, Fraport and its partners are leading the way with
a wide range of environmental and sustainable initiatives:
ranging from the Airport
Carbon Accreditation (FRA was the first airport in the world to receive this accreditation)
to international leadership in noise abatement initiatives.
For more details, see
www.fraport.com and www.frankfurt-airport.com.
– ENDS –
For Further Information, Please Contact:
Fraport AG Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide
Robert A. Payne – International Spokesman; Head of Intl. Press & External Activities Team, Press Office (UKM-PS),
Corporate Communications, 60547 Frankfurt, Germany; Tel.: +49 69.690.78547; E-mail: r.payne@fraport.de; Internet:
www.fraport.com
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