Fraport Consortium Takes Over St. Petersburg's Airport - Schulte: Further Milestone in Fraport's International Business

FRANKFURT, Germany, April 29, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Effective today, Fraport AG and its partners in the Northern Capital Gateway consortium are responsible for operating, developing and modernizing St Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport (airport code = LED), the fourth largest in Russia. "This is a further milestone in the development of Fraport's international business. Following more than two years of project work, we are pleased to welcome Pulkovo Airport and its approximately 4,000 employees to the Fraport Group," explained Fraport executive board chairman Dr. Stefan Schulte.

Now, the plans for the future development of this airport in Russia's second largest metropolis have to be implemented. Using its expertise, Fraport will operate and expand LED into a major air transportation gateway in one of Russia's most popular tourist regions and in a continuously growing Russian aviation market.

The 30-year concession encompasses the development and operation of Pulkovo Airport. Initially, activities will focus on the construction of a new passenger terminal, expansion of apron areas, and modernization of other airport infrastructure. The total investment volume will be almost EUR1 billion. The foundation stone for the new terminal building will already be laid this summer, with completion scheduled by the end of 2013.

Over the entire span of the concession Fraport will be responsible for operations at Pulkovo Airport, drawing on its decades of know-how gained especially at Frankfurt Airport as well as its international investments and projects worldwide. On the board level Fraport will furthermore be responsible for the commercial business.

Fraport holds a 35.5 percent stake in the Northern Capital Gateway consortium. Its partners are VTB Bank of Russia (with 57.5 percent) and the Greek Copelouzos Group (with 7 percent). Fraport AG's involvement will amount to approximately EUR170 million including guarantees.

Ranked as Russia's fourth largest aviation gateway after the three Moscow airports, Pulkovo (http://www.pulkovoairport.ru/eng) welcomed 6.8 million passengers in 2009. Following a slight 4.8 percent passenger dip in 2009, traffic at Pulkovo Airport bounced back to growth in the first quarter of 2010 - surging 29 percent year-on-year.

The airport is located about 20 kilometers from downtown St. Petersburg and features two independent runways as well as one domestic and one international passenger terminal. With a population of about 5 million people and some 3.5 million tourists last year, St. Petersburg is well on its way to becoming one of Europe's most popular tourist destinations (see http://visit-petersburg.ru and http://eng.gov.spb.ru).

More than an alluring tourism destination, St. Petersburg is also an economic powerhouse that is attracting major global corporations from the auto, machinery and consumer goods industries.

Companies like Metro Group, Ford, Toyota, Caterpillar, Coca Cola and Procter & Gamble have already established branches, invested millions, and created thousands of new jobs in St. Petersburg.

Print-quality photos of Frankfurt Airport and Fraport AG are available free for downloading via the Internet at http://www.fraport.com (Menu: select Press Center > then Photo Service). For TV news and information broadcasting purposes only, we also offer free footage material for downloading via http://fraport.cms-gomex.com.

    For Further Information, Please Contact:
    Fraport AG Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide
    Robert A. Payne, B.A.A. - Senior Mgr. International Press
    & PR (International Spokesman), Press Office (Dept. UKM-PS),
    Corporate Communications, 60547 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
    Tel: +49-69-690-78547, Fax: +49-69-690-60548;
    E-mail: [email protected], Internet: http://www.fraport.com

SOURCE Fraport AG