Frankfurt International Airport

Frankfurt International Airport, Rhein-Main-Flughafen or Flughafen Frankfurt am Main is located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany . It is the largest airport in Germany and the second or third-largest in Europe (depending which data are used), serving as an important hub for international flights from around the world. It is run by Fraport AG.

Frankfurt International is a hub of Lufthnsa , the German flag carrier. Because of undercapacity in Frankfurt, Lufthansa divides traffic between Frankfurt and Munich 's Franz Josef Straub International Airport when possible.

Frankfurt International currently serves more destinations than London's Heathrow International Airport , but in terms of passenger traffic Frankfurt International is still in second place compared to London Heathrow Airport (in a tie with Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport ). Passenger traffic at Frankfurt International Airport in 2003 was 48,351,664, while at Heathrow Airport it was 63,487,136, and at Charles de Gaulle Airport 48,220,436. In terms of plane movements, Frankfurt was third with 458,865 planes, behind number one Charles de Gaulle Airport (515,025), and number two Heathrow (463,650). In terms of cargo traffic, Frankfurt was second with 1,650,476 metric tonnes (1,819,338 US tons), just behind Charles de Gaulle Airport (1,723,700 metric tonnes), but above Heathrow (1,300,420 metric tonnes).

Paris' Charles de Gaulle International Airport may definitely leave Frankfurt airport behind in the near future, as it is designed to be expandable, unlike Frankfurt which is surrounded by towns and developed areas. Nevertheless there are plans to expand Frankfurt Airport with an additional runway, and to modify the airport to be able to service the new Airbus A-380 plane.