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Frankfurt / Main (dpa) - The Frankfurt airport operator Fraport is preparing for a prolonged lull in the corona pandemic after a record loss.
The MDax group reduced its passenger forecast on Tuesday when the balance sheet was presented and postponed the planned opening of the third terminal by another year to 2026. In addition, the company wants to save material and personnel costs in the long term, so that around 4,000 employees have to go in a socially responsible manner.
"We can clearly see light at the end of the tunnel," said CEO Stefan Schulte nonetheless.
At the home location in Frankfurt, Terminal 2, which was closed due to lack of demand, should go back into operation in June, and the northwest runway, which is now used as an aircraft parking lot, even earlier if possible.
After the slump to almost 19 million passengers in 2020, Schulte now only expects “less than 20 to 25 million” passengers for the current year.
Demand will pick up "sometime in summer".
Just a few weeks ago, the management of Germany's largest airport had expected up to 32 million passengers for the current year.
The pre-corona level of more than 70 million passengers will be seen around 2025/2026, said Schulte.
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At this point in time, Terminal 3, which is already under construction, with a capacity of around 25 million passengers per year, should relieve the old facilities.
The work has been stretched, but not interrupted, said Schulte.
The investment volume will not be reduced either.
"With the progress of the vaccination programs and the test options that are now available, air traffic can start again by the summer at the latest," said Schulte.
Frankfurt will benefit from its hub function and its excellent connections to other modes of transport.
He reckons that there will be a lot of catching up to do on private flights, and the situation on business trips is no longer as negative as it was months ago.
"Personal contact is lost," said Schulte about the digital replacement formats.
The sharp increase in ticket bookings after the end of the travel warning for Mallorca a few days ago, however, does not play a role in the overall forecast of the Fraport peak.
Several airlines such as Lufthansa and its subsidiary Eurowings, the vacation airlines Condor and Tuifly as well as the Irish operator Ryanair have significantly increased their range of flights for the Easter holidays.
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Schulte recalled that freedom of movement was a fundamental right.
There is also no evidence that air travel for tourist or business reasons contributed to the spread of the pandemic.
The Fraport boss called for a quick return to safe flying with a good test strategy.
Given the falling death rate, the virus will lose its horror even if the incidences remain high.
Last year, Fraport recorded a 55 percent drop in sales to just under 1.7 billion euros as a result of the travel restrictions.
Although the board of directors cut spending and investments and sent thousands of employees on short-time work, the costs more than ate up the proceeds.
In addition, Fraport initiated the socially responsible reduction of up to 4,000 jobs and set aside 299 million euros for this.
The aircraft services on the ground are to be combined in a new subsidiary in the future.
The company is also hoping for government reimbursement of 160 million euros that were incurred in the first lockdown as holding costs to keep the airport open.
The bottom line was that Fraport shareholders posted a loss of just under 658 million euros after a profit of around 421 million a year earlier.
The last time Fraport was in the red was in 2002 due to a terminal project in Manila that had failed.
Schulte is also predicting red figures for the new year - both on the bottom line and before interest and taxes (EBIT).
In view of the ongoing crisis, the shareholders - above all the state of Hesse and the city of Frankfurt - should not receive a dividend not only for 2019 and 2020, but also for 2021.
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© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210316-99-845683 / 3
Fraport annual reports
Announcement Fraport fiscal year 2020