Fraport receives Terminal 3 building permit from the city of Frankfurt

Fraport AG, the owner and operator of Frankfurt Airport (FRA), today received the building permit from the City of Frankfurt for the planned Terminal 3 (T3).  The construction of the new terminal, which will rise on the southern side of Frankfurt Airport, is an integral part of Fraport’s Airport Expansion Program as approved in the official zoning procedure.  The new terminal has been designed as a modular construction concept to be implemented in phases.  The first construction phase will include the central terminal building and two piers to serve up to 14 million passengers per year.

Fraport expects Frankfurt Airport will need additional capacity – which will be available after the completion of the first T3 construction phase – by no later than 2021. In the aviation industry, business planning must take a long-term view. Current forecasts confirm that Frankfurt Airport will experience sustainable growth in the future. 

For example, the long-term traffic forecast issued by the German Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure expects passenger figures to grow by an annual average of 2.5 percent by 2030.  Thus, aviation is Germany’s fastest-growing mode of transportation. Frankfurt Airport has already exceeded this value, posting average passenger growth of three percent in recent years – due to FRA’s significant international hub function.  The current trend shows that passenger figures will continue to rise, with growth reaching two to three percent by the end of 2014. On the basis of this future traffic growth, the capacity of Terminals 1 and 2 is expected to be exhausted by 2020. 

In the first construction phase, Terminal 3 will feature a total of 24 terminal docking positions at the two piers.  When fully completed, Terminal 3 will provide a total of 50 aircraft docking positions.  Overall, planning for the passenger terminal focuses on highly efficient energy standards.  The design of the building’s technical systems, for example, will completely eliminate the need for external heating.

Terminal 3 will be linked to the existing Terminals 1 and 2, as well as the airport train stations, by expanding FRA’s baggage conveyor and Sky Line people-mover systems.