FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - Curved aluminum tubes, teardrop-shaped openings that provide daylight, and a sweeping, almost filigree-looking overall construction: when travelers at Frankfurt Airport's Terminal 3 look up from 2026, the ceiling of the central "marketplace" will be an eye-catcher. "Each tube is unique," says Harald Rohr, Managing Director of Fraport Ausbau Süd GmbH and thus responsible for the billion-euro project. A total of 25 kilometers of aluminum pipes would be installed for the ceiling.

Stefan Schulte, Chairman of the Executive Board of Fraport AG, promises a modern ambience and the latest technology with regard to the new terminal, which is scheduled to go into operation with the 2026 summer flight schedule. The work is "right on schedule," the head of the company operating Germany's largest commercial airport assured on Wednesday during a site inspection. Around 700 glass panes, each weighing 700 kilograms, have already been installed on the glazed terminal building. The task now is to build the check-in islands. All in all, it is to be a terminal of short distances and running times with rapid check-in.

The four-billion construction project is scheduled to go into operation in 2026 and will enable the airport to handle 90 million passengers a year. After the existing two terminals reached their capacity in the years before Corona, with 70 million passengers a year, the airport's expansion is important given Germany's export-oriented economy and people's continued desire to travel, the Fraport chief said.

"With a major construction project like this, there is no one completion," Schulte emphasized. Rather, he said, the acceptance processes and inspections are taking place step by step together with the authorities, the fire department and other partners. At the moment, the main focus is on the interior work - cables or floors are being laid everywhere, and work is being done on the terminal's infrastructure, such as future commercial areas. Tenders for the new lounges are also underway, with interest already being expressed from the Middle East in particular, according to the company. "We know after initial talks with airlines that they are very keen to come here," Schulte assured.

Rohr said Wednesday he expects the terminal building's "central marketplace," for example, where travelers can stay after checking in and checking baggage until they walk to their gate, to be completed in the third quarter of 2025. "That gives us a lead time of nine to 12 months to get the passenger processes through," he said.

Once completed, the terminal will be able to handle up to 19 million passengers arriving and departing, according to Fraport. The terminal is connected to the existing traffic network and the highway via a new road network of ten kilometers. Good progress has also been made on the expansion of the 5.6-kilometer route of the new Sky Line railroad. In the future, it will take travelers and airport employees from Terminal 1 to Terminal 3 within eight minutes. The new parking garage with 8,500 spaces has already been completed.

In view of the additional capacity of the new terminal, Schulte says Terminal 2 will be temporarily shut down after its completion for a general refurbishment until around 2029. After that, there will be an end to major construction projects for the time being, Schulte says. "And that's a good thing."/czy/DP/tih