The German government is presenting the company with financial aid after continuing operations throughout the first lockdown
The owner and operator of Frankfurt Airport (FRA), Fraport AG, is set to receive €160m (£137m) from the German and State of Hesse governments as compensation for the costs to maintain the hub’s operations throughout the first Covid-19 lockdown last year.
The group hope the financial aid will help strengthen its equity position and performance.
Germany’s federal minister of transport and digital infrastructure, Andreas Scheuer and the Hessian minister of economics, energy transport and housing, Tarek Al-Wazir, revealed the announcement last Friday (July 2).
“We are still undergoing the greatest crisis in modern aviation, resulting in significant losses,” said Stefan Schulte, Fraport AG’s executive board chairman. “During the first Covid-19 lockdown, we kept Frankfurt Airport continuously open for repatriation flights and vital cargo traffic, even though a temporary closure would have made more sense economically at that time. This compensation that we will receive from the German and Hesse governments is a clear sign of support for maintaining airport operational infrastructure during an unprecedented crisis.
“The payment also strongly contributes further to stabilising Fraport AG’s financial situation. This is also supported by the noticeable increase in demand that we are currently experiencing in Frankfurt. We are therefore optimistic about the development of our business in the coming months – even though it will take some years before we regain pre-crisis traffic levels once again.”
In February of this year, the German federal and state governments decided on the support package for the country’s airports due to the severe hit taken during the pandemic.
