FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - Frankfurt Airport operator Fraport is on schedule with its international expansion projects. The third passenger terminal in Frankfurt is scheduled to open after the Easter travel wave in 2026, said CEO Stefan Schulte at the Annual General Meeting of the MDax group on Tuesday.

The gross capacity of Germany's largest airport will increase by around 19 million passengers with the investment of around four billion euros, although Terminal 2 will then be taken out of operation for refurbishment. This year, a solar park will also be built along Frankfurt's western runway, for which around 37,000 photovoltaic modules are to be installed.

Global expansion plans in full swing

The new terminal at Lima Airport is due to open this year, more than doubling the capacity in the Peruvian capital with two runways to 40 million passengers. Fraport and its partner TAV aim to complete construction work at the airport in Antalya before the main travel season in 2025 in order to be able to handle 65 million passengers a year.

The airport operated by Fraport in Porto Alegre, Brazil, which has been affected by the historic floods in the South American country, will remain closed until further notice. There have been no fatalities among the employees, but many have lost "house and home", said Schulte. Fraport had supported them with relief supplies and financial aid. The flood damage has not yet been determined. Fraport is insured and in talks with the government. Civil air traffic will soon be organized at a military airport.

In business terms, Fraport sees itself on the way to record sales and profits. Schulte confirmed the forecast of 61 to 65 million passengers at the home hub and strong international growth. It is highly likely that the profit for the current year will exceed that of the pre-coronavirus year 2019, which amounted to 454 million euros. In the forecast, the management is confident of up to 530 million euros. However, this does not automatically mean a dividend for shareholders. Due to the high debt ratio, no dividend will be proposed in 2024 either, Schulte announced. This will change with the opening of Terminal 3 at the latest./ceb/DP/stw