Fraport’s management expects a little more than half of the 2019 passenger numbers at the 14 Regional Airports managed by its subsidiary Fraport Greece. That is, about 15 million passengers in total are expected, up from just 8 million recorded in last year’s disastrous year for air transport worldwide due to the coronavirus.
In its forecasts for this year, the German group says that the airports it operates internationally will show a more dynamic recovery this year than the airports in Germany. This is because airports such as those in Greece are more dependent on tourism and domestic travel than on business travel, which is expected to recover at a slower pace.
“Just over half of the 2019 passenger numbers are expected for the 14 Greek regional airports as well as for Varna and Burgas airports. For Antalya airport in Turkey, volumes are expected to reach 60% in 2019,” the group’s 2020 financial report said.
Due to the pandemic and travel restrictions, 2020 ended with a 71.4% drop in passenger traffic at the 14 Regional Airports managed by Fraport Greece, as a total of approximately 8.6 million passengers were handled Domestic traffic decreased by 62.1% and international traffic by 74.2% compared to 2019. Freight traffic recorded a 29.9% drop.
The collapse in passenger traffic naturally had a significant impact on the financial results. In 2020 Fraport Greece recorded revenues of €185 million, down from €463.4 million in 2019. Operating costs fell by EUR 121.1 million to EUR 172.6 million for the full year. The company reported earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of EUR 12.9 million from EUR 170.4 million in 2019 and a loss before tax of EUR 40.9 million from a profit of EUR 121.7 million in the immediately preceding year.
It should be noted that Fraport Greece last month announced the completion of the €440 million upgrade programme for 14 airports. According to Fraport Group, last year investments of EUR 79.5 million were implemented compared to EUR 166.9 million in 2019.