Fraport to construct pier for low-cost carriers at Frankfurt Airport ahead of schedule

GERMANY. Fraport is seeking to bring forward plans to construct a new pier at Frankfurt Airport in response to passenger growth, particularly in the low-cost segment.

The company has submitted a building permit application to the City of Frankfurt for the construction of Pier G. It was originally envisaged as the second phase in the construction of the airport’s new Terminal 3, but is now being realised and commissioned ahead of schedule.

Extra capacity: How Pier G will look once construction is completed

Based on the current plans, the first construction phase of Pier G will be completed in 2020 at a cost of up to €200 million and will provide an annual capacity of four to five million passengers. In a second phase, Pier G will be expanded to a total capacity of up to seven million passengers and connected to the first section of Terminal 3. In the third and final phase, Pier G will be extended to include bridges and jetways.

Fraport said the new pier would provide “cost-saving, no-frills” ground handling for low-cost airline traffic while being fully integrated into Frankfurt Airport’s hub function. It said the decision to bring forward construction was taken following a comprehensive examination of various options.

“Submitting the building permit application for the new Pier G is an important step that will enable us to alleviate future capacity constraints at Terminals 1 and 2 as early as 2020,” said Fraport Chairman of the Executive Board Dr Stefan Schulte.

“By this date, our two existing terminals are expected to be approaching their capacity limit of 64 million passengers. That limit could be expanded to around 68 million passengers, but only on a temporary basis and at the expense of quality. Pier G was already envisaged as the second phase in the construction of our new Terminal 3 and is now being built ahead of schedule.

“The new pier is designed as a fully functional passenger terminal tailored specifically to the needs of low-cost carriers and will be optimally integrated into Frankfurt Airport’s hub system.”

Construction work on the new pier is scheduled to begin in mid-2018 under the responsibility of a general contractor. An EU-wide tender for the work has already been launched.

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