Frankfurt Airport opens Terminal 3 after years of construction

After 10 years of planning and construction, the first flight took off from Frankfurt Airport's new Terminal 3. On April 23, 2026, the airport's long-term project was completed and began operations, with a capacity of 19 million passengers a year.

Operations kick off at Terminal 3

On April 22, 2026, a day before the official opening, Frankfurt celebrated the ceremonial opening of Terminal 3, attended by 400 guests, including politicians, economists, and aviation industry figures, according to the city's report.

Originally, the new terminal was meant to be used in addition to the two preexisting terminals at the Frankfurt Airport. However, the airport has yet to fully recover its visitor numbers from the COVID-19 pandemic and will instead move all operations of Terminal 2 into Terminal 3 to renovate the old facilities, explains tagesschau in a rundown of the airport's developments. 

Frankfurt Airport long-term expansion

The airport in Frankfurt serves as a hub for many international travellers and has greatly expanded its capacity to offer long-distance flights in recent years. In 2000, the decision was made to continue expansion. The new terminal is supposed to make connecting at the airport more efficient and allow it to compete with similar hubs in Istanbul and the east.

Construction began in 2015, under the self-supervision of the Frankfurt Airport. Then, the construction was projected to require 2,5 to 3 billion euros in investment. The final product cost 4 billion euros instead. The construction of the terminal has become one of the largest privately financed infrastructure projects in Europe, according to the Frankfurt Airport website.

While the annual profit of the Frankfurt Airport has risen from 1,7 billion euros to 2,7 billion euros over the last 20 years, the large investments in the new terminal have increased debt by more than 8 billion euros.