Hesse’s state government will provide Fraport with financial support, with €464,000 to build charging infrastructure and €225,000 will be used to purchase 2 electric buses for transporting passengers.
Fraport will invest €1.2m in expanding charging infrastructure on Frankfurt Airport’s apron by the end of 2024, and it has earmarked €17m for equipping ground service vehicles with electric drive systems.
Dr Stefan Schulte, CEO of Fraport, said: “We’ve set ourselves the ambitious goal of going carbon-free by 2045, both at our home-base airport in Frankfurt and all of our fully-consolidated Group airports worldwide. Meeting this target requires significant investment, an outlay we started making back in the 1990s. We've continued to invest since then, despite the crises our industry has faced.”
Before this funding round, the state government had contributed €270,000 towards trialling 2 electric buses for passengers at Frankfurt Airport over the 2018-2021 period.
Schulte said: “Our ground handling and energy network professionals have learned a great deal from this trial phase. This has allowed them to develop an appropriate charging strategy that is now ready to be seamlessly integrated into our processes.”
Tarek Al-Wazir, Hessian Minister of Economics and Transport, said, “Fraport’s commitment to the greater use of electric vehicles means the company is heading in the right direction. Each tonne of CO2 that is eliminated helps to protect the climate and brings us a step closer to carbon neutrality. Frankfurt Airport’s new electric charging infrastructure is making a contribution towards this plan.”
Two pop-up charging hubs are planned, each including a steel rack with 9 rapid charging points that can be positioned on the apron as required.
Each has room for 8 cars or baggage tractors, or supply a bus or aircraft tractor with electricity.
A dedicated charging depot is planned for the passenger bus fleet used by the ground services team, including an integrated reservations tool.
