Fraternity in Frankfurt

In order to better meet the needs of passengers and improve operating efficiency, Fraport AG, the airport operator of Germany's largest airport, and Deutsche Lufthansa, the largest German airline, will work together hand-in-hand in the future. They are seeking to optimize their services and processes and enhance what they offer to their customers. This new vision for the future is expected to benefit everyone: from tourists and business travelers to the airport operator and airline.

To facilitate close collaboration in operations, the FraAlliance GmbH joint venture was launched in summer 2022. The two managing directors have ambitious plans. According to Jörg Harnisch, previously Head of Process Improvement at the Lufthansa Group, “We want to make the travel experience more attractive for each and every guest – and to make the airport more profitable overall.” Dirk Schusdziara, formerly Fraport’s Senior Vice President for Commercial Affairs, Terminal Management and Corporate Safety and Security, sums up the collaboration as follows: “The airport is learning to think like an airline, and the airline like an airport.”

At Terminal 1 in Frankfurt, the future is already here. Security checkpoints are being equipped with new CT systems that automatically scan carry-on baggage for solid and liquid explosives. The departure area offers security slots that passengers can book in advance online to reduce stressful waiting times to five or ten minutes at most. At the initiative of Porsche Consulting aviation expert Claus Lintz, Frankfurt Airport now has a “lab gate”– a section of the departure hall where innovative offerings can be tried out in practice. All of that is just the beginning.