In 2021, Frankfurt Airport came a little way out of its Corona low.

Thanks to the increased travel demand in summer and the opening of the USA in autumn, Germany's largest airport counted around 24,8 million passengers in the year as a whole, almost a third more than in the first Corona year 2020, according to the operating group announced on Monday. As expected, the volume was at the upper end of the forecast issued by the Executive Board, but almost two-thirds lower than before the pandemic: In 2019, almost 70,6 million passengers were handled at the airport - more than ever before. December saw a stronger recovery from the crisis - despite new travel restrictions due to the omicron variant of the corona virus. Fraport counted 2,7 million passengers, a good three times as many as a year earlier, but still 44 percent fewer than in December 2019.

Things went much better in the cargo business, which is experiencing a real boom as a result of the pandemic and its consequences. In 2021 as a whole, Frankfurt Airport handled around 2,27 million tons, almost 19 percent more than in 2020 and almost 9 percent more than in 2019.

Stefan Schulte, CEO of Fraport AG, is optimistic about the future despite the challenges: "The situation will remain highly dynamic in 2022. Nobody can currently predict exactly how the pandemic will develop in the coming months. The associated and often inconsistent travel restrictions will continue to demand a lot from the entire aviation industry. Despite these uncertainties, we are optimistic about the future and expect demand to pick up again significantly from spring.”