Frankfurt Airport handled approximately 6.1 million passengers in September 2026, up 1.6% from a year earlier, as demand for traditional holiday destinations remained strong. Cargo volumes also increased, despite a decline in the number of flights.
Airport operator Fraport said school summer holidays continuing into September in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg helped sustain leisure demand during the month.
Across all airports actively managed by the group, passenger numbers rose 2.7% year-on-year to around 21.1 million.
Frankfurt’s nine-month traffic remains slightly below 2025
Despite September’s growth, Frankfurt recorded approximately 47.5 million passengers between January and September, a decrease of 0.2% compared with the same period in 2025.
Fraport attributed the decline to factors including geopolitical tensions and strikes at Lufthansa. The industrial action affected almost 700,000 passengers at Frankfurt during the first nine months of 2026.
According to the operator, passenger traffic would have increased by approximately 1.3% over that period without the impact of the strikes.
Fewer domestic flights reduce aircraft movements
Frankfurt recorded 40,539 take-offs and landings in September, down 3.5% year-on-year. The reduction was driven largely by a 25.2% fall in flights to and from destinations within Germany, particularly following the suspension of services to Bremen and Stuttgart.
Passenger numbers nevertheless increased, while cargo throughput, including airfreight and airmail, rose 2.5% to 174,773 metric tons.
Accumulated maximum take-off weights, a measure of aircraft capacity handled by the airport, fell 1.2% to approximately 2.5 million metric tons.
Greece and Bulgaria record further growth
Most airports in Fraport’s international portfolio reported higher passenger numbers in September.
The group’s 14 Greek airports handled a combined 5.7 million passengers, an increase of 4.2% year-on-year. Bulgaria’s coastal airports at Burgas and Varna welcomed 554,292 passengers between them, up 8.6%.
Ljubljana Airport in Slovenia recorded particularly strong growth, with passenger numbers rising 16.6% to 205,495.
Antalya Airport in Türkiye moved in the opposite direction. Traffic at the Turkish Riviera gateway fell 1.7% to approximately 5.1 million passengers.
Lima grows as Jericoacoara joins Brazilian figures
In South America, Lima Airport in Peru handled around 2.3 million passengers, up 10.5% compared with September 2025.
Fraport’s Brazilian airports recorded a combined 1.2 million passengers. For the first time, the monthly figures included Jericoacoara Airport in northeastern Brazil, which recently joined the operator’s network and served 27,272 travellers in September.
The group’s existing Brazilian airports, Fortaleza and Porto Alegre, recorded combined passenger growth of 2.1% year-on-year.
