Frankfurt Airport operator Fraport made a surprisingly strong return to profit in the first quarter despite worker strikes, it said on Tuesday.
A €16 million ($17.3 million) profit from the traditionally weaker travel season followed a loss of almost €22 million a year earlier.
Strikes at German carrier Lufthansa and at airport passenger security checks in the first quarter had risked affecting results, while dozens of flights were also cancelled due to snow and ice.
But Fraport increased its revenue by around 16% in the quarter, mainly thanks to significantly higher passenger numbers at the group's airports, which include Ljubljana in Slovenia and Fortaleza in Brazil.
Chief executive Stefan Schulte believes the company is on track to achieve its targets for the year.
He continues to expect 61 to 65 million passengers at Germany's largest airport in 2024. Operating earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) are expected to reach €1.26 billion to €1.36 billion.
In April, Frankfurt again recorded a slight increase in passenger numbers. Fraport counted around 5.1 million passengers compared to 4.8 million a year earlier, according to a presentation by the board.
However, this is still around 16% less than before the coronavirus pandemic in April 2019. In January, the shortfall compared to 2019 was only 13% - in December it was only 6%.
