Frankfurt Airport Puts Caps On Flights To Stabilise Operations

There will be 88 take-off and landing movements per hour at Frankfurt airport, Fraport said, starting this week to “stabilise” airline operators.

London’s Heathrow, Gatwick, and Schiphol airports all announced capacity caps this summer due to the pandemic’s impact on passenger numbers and the resulting staffing shortages at those airports.

Frankfurt airport will have fewer flights this summer because of a move by Lufthansa, whose CEO Jens Ritter said the airline’s choice was “welcome.”

According to Ritter, several waves of airline cancellations have already occurred during the past few weeks.

This decision by Fraport is appropriate since even with enhanced capacity at Frankfurt’s ground handling services, the high sickness absence rate means that the flight schedule, which has already been cut multiple times, is still insufficient.

Flight cancellations in and out of Frankfurt will now be reduced and stabilised by other airlines operating in and out of Frankfurt.”

May was Frankfurt’s biggest month since the pandemic outbreak, with five million passengers passing through the city, an 181% increase over June 2021. Passenger numbers were down by 24.1% from June this year, but they were better than the previous months.

This shows the strong momentum driving air travel demand,” Stefan Schulte, CEO of Fraport. Passengers in Frankfurt may currently face long waits in the airports, particularly at the baggage reclaim, during peak traffic periods.” We’re working hard with all of our partners to get back to the quality standards our customers have come to expect in the medium term.”