24 hour wi-fi access introduced at Frankfurt airport

Fraport AG, which operates Frankfurt Airport, is expanding its free Wi-Fi access at Germany’s largest airport from 60 minutes to 24 hours.

The gateway’s round-the-clock free Wi-Fi service is available immediately, and more than 300 Wi-Fi access points facilitate Internet access in the terminals.

To use the free Wi-Fi service, passengers and visitors log on via the ‘HotSpot’ Internet portal of Deutsche Telekom.

After the first 24 hours, passengers can extend their free Wi-Fi access for a further 24 hours with a just few clicks.

Peter Schmitz, Fraport AG’s executive board member for operations (COO), emphasized: “Fraport is pleased to enhance the travel experience for our passengers again by expanding free Wi-Fi service at Frankfurt Airport from 60 minutes to 24 hours.

“We are the first major airport in Germany and one of the first in Europe to offer passengers this level of free Wi-Fi service round-the-clock.

“Frankfurt Airport is dedicated to meeting the needs of today’s increasingly mobile and networked society.”

Free Wi-Fi at Frankfurt Airport is part of the ‘Great to Have You Here! service quality programme launched several years ago by Fraport AG.

It aims to to introduce a wide range of service enhancements, making the hub more convenient and attractive for passengers.

Last year, Frankfurt Airport handled more than 58 million passengers.

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Lufthansa lands Frankfurt deal to disrupt flight paths of Middle Eastern airlines

Eintracht Frankfurt is eyeing an expanded sponsorship deal with German airline Lufthansa. The deal could generate revenues of about €5 million for the football club over the next five years. 

Eintracht and Lufthansa launched cooperation in August 2008. Since then, the airline has been sponsoring the family sector at the club's Commerzbank-Arena. Lufthansa also acquired its own VIP zone and business seats, and has advertising inventory at the stadium in Frankfurt.

The new deal is expected to significantly broaden the scope of the collaboration between Eintracht and the airline. In addition to the funds, Lufthansa is to provide free transportation services to the Frankfurt-based side.

With the latest move, Lufthansa is reportedly aiming to prevent further expansion into German sports by rival airlines from the Middle East, following talks held by officials from Eintracht and local businessmen in Abu Dhabi.

Among other clubs competing in the German Bundesliga, rival side Hamburger SV is currently sponsored by the Dubai-based Emirates airline.

The deal has not been confirmed by Lufthansa. However, an official offer is to be submitted this week, the newspaper said.

Eintracht won the German championship in 1959. The club's Commerzbank-Arena has a capacity of some 51,500, including 42,200 seats.

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Emirates Airbus A380s bound for Frankfurt

Emirates will bring its Airbus A380 to Frankfurt from later this year, upgrading one of its daily Boeing 777 flights to the superjumbo. From September 1, EK45 switches to the A380 – leaving Dubai at 08:25am and touching down in Frankfurt at 1:15pm. On the return, EK46 is wheels-up from Frankfurt at 3:20pm, arriving in Dubai at 11:35pm. Thierry Antinori, Emirates’ Executive VP and CCO said: “Frankfurt was one of the first European destinations for Emirates and as the financial capital of Germany it continues to be strategically important.”

The Airbus A380 brings with it two ‘shower spas’ for first class travellers, fully-flat beds and an on-board bar and lounge for both first and business class flyers, along with 1,700 channels of inflight entertainment for all passengers. Lining up with Emirates’ flights between Dubai and Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, travellers from Australia’s east coast can soon reach Germany’s financial epicentre on an all-A380 journey. Now with 48 A380s in the skies and a further 92 pending delivery, Emirates is the proud owner of the largest superjumbo fleet – carrying over 25 million passengers for the airline since its first delivery in 2008. Following the UK, Germany will be the second most served European country by the Emirates A380 from September, with Munich already boasting double-daily A380 flights.

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Lufthansa Restructuring Continues…

Lufthansa has revealed details of its next round of route transfers to low-cost subsidiary Germanwings.  The Frankfurt-based operator has already consolidated much of its non-hub, short-haul network as part of its ongoing SCORE cost-cutting programme.  It is expected that its wholly-owned budget arm will assume control of Lufthansa’s services from Düsseldorf to Birmingham, Manchester, Newcastle and Paris/Charles de Gaulle from September 18, while its links to London/Heathrow, Malaga, Moscow/Vnukovo, Naples and Nice will follow on October 26.

Despite having achieved its profit and restructuring targets for 2013, the carrier’s outgoing CEO Christoph Franz has suggested SCORE may continue beyond its current conclusion date of 2015.  He told Reuters he did not think Lufthansa had realised all the benefits of the initiative, adding: “I don’t believe we’ve squeezed all the juice out of the fruit yet,”

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Frankfurt Airport Reports Slight Increase in Passenger Volumes Despite Strike

In April 2014, Fraport AG welcomed more than 4.7 million passengers at its Frankfurt Airport (FRA) home base.  This corresponds to a slight increase of 0.9 percent compared to the same month of the previous year.  FRA’s traffic statistics for the reporting period were influenced partly by opposing special and base-year effects.  In April 2013, a strike by Lufthansa ground staff led to some 950 flight cancellations, affecting more than 100,000 passengers.  In the first week of April 2014, a three-day walkout by the Vereinigung Cockpit pilots’ union resulted in some 2,160 cancellations, affecting some 250,000 passengers.
 
Cargo volumes edged down by 1.2 percent to 171,909 metric tons in the reporting period.  This was due to the strike-related reduction in shipping capacities as well as the shift of the Easter holidays from March to April in 2014, with cargo business slowing down during the holiday period.  Aircraft movements decreased by 4.1 percent year-on-year, to 37,632 takeoffs and landings.  Accumulated maximum takeoff weights (MTOW) also slightly contracted by 0.9 percent to just under 3 million metric tons.
 
The Fraport Group’s portfolio of international airports posted a very positive performance.  Almost 1.2 million passengers passed through Peru’s Lima Airport (LIM) in April 2014 – an increase of 6.4 percent compared to the same month of the previous year.  Fraport’s two airports on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast – Burgas (BOJ) and Varna (VAR) – recorded a combined count of 59,328 passengers, up 25.4 percent.
 
Antalya Airport (AYT) on the Turkish Riviera welcomed about 1.7 million passengers in April 2014, up 12.6 percent.  With 951,904 passengers, Pulkovo Airport (LED) in St. Petersburg (Russia) recorded an increase of 8.3 percent, while passenger volumes at Hanover Airport (HAJ) in Germany expanded by 3.3 percent to 435,205.  A total of 2.4 million passengers used Xi’an Airport (XIY) in China in the reporting period. This corresponds to an increase of 11.7 percent year-on-year.

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Lufthansa will fly Boeing 747-8 on Frankfurt-Mumbai route

Lufthansa will fly its Boeing 747-8 aircraft on Frankfurt-Mumbai route offering more capacity and higher business class seats from July 15. The airline already flies this aircraft to Delhi and Bangalore. The aircraft is configured with 8 first class, 80 business class and 298 economy class seats.

"The B747-8 sets new standards of comfort and efficiency. Our customers will be able to experience Lufthansa's latest in-flight products, such as a sophisticated new Business Class seat featuring a 6.5 feet long full-flat bed with vastly improved sleeping comfort and greater privacy,'' said Wolfgang Will, Lufthansa director (South Asia).

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Frankfurt Airport attracts new airlines and strengthens its global hub function

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.

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Fraport Traffic Figures – February 2014

In February 2014, the positive growth trend for passenger and cargo traffic continued to advance at Fraport AG’s Frankfurt Airport (FRA) home base.  Fraport welcomed about 3.7 million passengers in the reporting month – a 1.8 percent increase year-on-year.  Cargo throughput (airfreight and airmail) grew by 1.9 percent to 159,249 metric tons. Accumulated maximum takeoff

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