FRAPORT AG 
By 25.03.2014
ANR 18/2014
The new Frankfurt Airport (FRA) Summer Timetable 2014 - which goes into effect on Sunday, March 30 - will feature 108 airlines offering passenger flights to 295 direct destinations in 105 countries per week. In intercontinental traffic, the number of destinations will increase by 4 to 141, compared to last year's summer schedule -underscoring FRA's importance as a leading international hub in global aviation. The number of seats offered will climb noticeably by 4.4 percent to about 805,000 seats per week, including 285,000 seats on intercontinental routes (up 1.9 percent). The number of airlines serving Frankfurt for the Summer Timetable 2014 will also rise to 108.
Fraport AG's executive board chairman Dr. Stefan Schulte said: "Frankfurt Airport will be an even more attractive international aviation hub for the upcoming Summer Timetable 2014. We are proud to be able to offer passengers such a high-quality and comprehensive global destination network. We thank all of our airline partners for their contribution to our global hub and for their excellent cooperation. In particular, we are pleased to welcome new carriers to FRA."
Two Asian-based carriers - China Southern and MIAT Mongolian Airlines - are among the brand new carriers to serve Frankfurt Airport this summer season. China Southern will commence a thrice weekly service from Frankfurt to the Pearl River manufacturing hub of Guangzhou (CAN) - last linked to FRA in March 2012 - with a stopover in Changsha (CSX), the capital of Hunan province in south central China. This will be the first time that Changsha is directly linked by air to Frankfurt. MIAT Mongolian Airlines, a newcomer to Frankfurt, will launch nonstop flights twice a week between FRA and Chinggis Khaan International Airport (ULN) in the Mongolian capital of Ulan Bator - another direct destination being offered for the first time.
Three airlines that have been absent from FRA's route network for some time are returning for the Summer Timetable 2014: Biman Bangladesh Airlines, Air Europe, and Pegasus Airlines. Biman Bangladesh Airlines will fly twice weekly between Frankfurt and Dhaka (DAC), with a stopover in Rome (FCO). Spain's Air Europa is launching a double-daily service to Madrid (MAD), while Pegasus Airlines will launch a daily flight from FRA to Turkey's Sabiha Gökçen International Airport (SAW) on the Asian side of Istanbul.
Further new destinations in FRA's Summer Timetable 2014 include: the Indonesian capital of Jakarta (CGK) in South East Asia, with five flights per week served by Lufthansa via Kuala Lumpur (KUL); Urgench (UGC) in Uzbekistan, Central Asia, flown weekly by Uzbekistan Airways; and Gazipasa (GZP) on the Turkish Riviera, offered thrice weekly by SunExpress.
In the Americas, FRA's home-base carrier Condor will be adding two new destinations this summer: a weekly connection to Fortaleza (FOR) on the northern coast of Brazil, South America; and twice weekly service to the twin cities of Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP) in the U.S. Midwest state of Minnesota, North America.
More European direct destinations will also be offered via FRA: Lufthansa is adding a daily service to Valencia (VLC), Spain, as well as a weekly connection to Montpellier (MPL), France. Adria Airways will fly four times per week to Tirana (TIA), in Albania. Condor will provide weekly flights to Kalamata (KLX) on Greece's Peloponnese peninsula.
Two existing intercontinental routes will be more intensively served this summer schedule. In addition to the daily Air Canada service between Frankfurt and Montreal (YUL) in Quebec, Canada, Lufthansa will be flying five times per week to Canada's second largest city. Both of Tokyo major airports - Haneda (HND) and Narita (NRT) - will be together served a total of five times daily by Lufthansa, ANA All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines, up from four times weekly.
Furthermore, Lufthansa will be expanding frequencies this summer season on various European cities. Thus, Lufthansa will be offering hourly flights not only to Berlin, Hamburg and Munich, but also to London-Heathrow (LHR), Brussels (BRU) and Vienna (VIE) - together with Austrian Airlines - this summer schedule. The Spanish carrier Vueling will also be increasing its flights from FRA to Barcelona, while Turkish Airlines will be adding more connections to Istanbul Sabiha-Gökcen (SAW) in Turkey.
The trend towards airlines deploying larger aircraft at FRA will continue during the summer schedule, with an average of 177 passengers per flight - six passengers more compared to the Summer Timetable 2013. As a result, despite the significant expansion in total seats being offered, the number of flight departures registered per week at FRA will rise moderately by 0.9 percent.
This development at Frankfurt is resulting mainly from Lufthansa's investment in next-generation aircraft. Lufthansa, which accounts for the largest share of FRA's traffic, will bring six new intercontinental aircraft into service at Frankfurt this summer. These new jets will offer greater energy efficiency and will be noticeably quieter. Along with two new Airbus A380 super jumbos, Lufthansa will add four new Boeing 747-8 jets to its fleet, thus increasing comfort for passengers flying long-haul routes via the Frankfurt Airport global hub.
See our accompanying "Fact Sheets" about FRA's two brand new airlines - China Southern and MIAT Mongolian - as well as three other airlines that are re-starting Frankfurt service this summer season, after several years absence (Air Europa, Biman Bangladesh and Pegasus Airlines).
- ENDS -
FACT SHEETS
|
distributed by
|
