| AP FRANKFURT (AP) -- German airport operator Fraport AG said Thursday its net profit fell 55 percent in the third quarter as revenue and passenger levels dropped amid the economic downturn. Fraport, based in Frankfurt, said net income for the July-September period fell to euro56 million ($83 million) from euro124 million in the third quarter of 2008. Revenue for the period fell 4 percent to euro533 million from euro555 million, while passengers fell 7.4 percent to 22.6 million from 24.4 million passengers in the third quarter of 2008. Fraport reiterated it will not reach the level of profit seen in 2008 and that the full year outlook remains uncertain because of the economic downturn and other effects. Shares of Fraport were about 1 percent lower at euro32.46 in Frankfurt afternoon trading. The company said its main Frankfurt Airport hub will not be able to evade the negative developments in global air traffic, and expects traffic to fall between 5 percent and 6 percent for the full year. Frankfurt Airport is continental Europe's second biggest airport after Paris' Charles de Gaulle. The company said the effects of swine flu could not yet be determined, and that further developments of the sickness could significantly affect airline travel in the future. This "could still require a downward adjustment to this traffic forecast," at Frankfurt Airport, Fraport said in its report. Fraport owns or holds stakes in other airports, including Antalya, Turkey; Lima, Peru and Burgas, Bulgaria. The company said in late October it also entered a partnership to operate the Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg, Russia. The 30-year deal includes construction of a new passenger terminal, expansion of apron areas and development of real estate. Fraport said in the first nine months of the year, passenger levels at its majority-held airports declined 4.4 percent to 55.4 million passengers. Passenger levels across the group, including majority- and minority-owned airports and those in management contracts, was up 0.1 percent to 99.5 million in the January-September period. In the first nine months of the year, group cargo levels fell 16 percent to 1.7 million tons, or 1.5 million metric tons. Nine month net income fell 44 percent to euro125 million and revenue fell 13 percent to euro1.48 billion.
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