Overview
- Passenger service began Thursday with a China Southern flight docking at 5:24 a.m. and Etihad’s EY122 to Abu Dhabi departing at 10:30 a.m., with 12 arrivals and 12 departures carrying about 6,000 people planned for day one.
- A four‑stage move will shift 57 airlines from Terminal 2 to the new building between April 23 and June 9, after which Terminal 2 closes for an extensive renovation with no set reopening date.
- An automated Skyline-Bahn now connects the new facility with Terminal 1 and the airport’s rail stations over a 5.6 km route in up to eight minutes, and police quickly cleared a suspicious package that briefly halted the service.
- The terminal opens with capacity for about 19 million passengers a year and can rise to roughly 25 million if Fraport adds a planned extra pier, following what the operator calls a €4 billion private investment.
- Hesse’s leadership praised the expansion as a boost to Frankfurt’s hub status and jobs, while environmental groups and some politicians criticized more noise and emissions and questioned the need for added capacity.