Fraport opens fourth runway at Frankfurt airport

Airport operator Fraport has opened a 2.8km fourth runway north-west of Frankfurt International Airport, Germany, built at a cost of $833m.

The runway connects the rest of the airport by taxiways crossing a motorway and a high-speed railway.

The new runway will boost the airport's takeoffs and landings to 126 per hour from 82, and its passenger capacity to 88.6 million by 2020 from the current 53 million.

The new runway plan was proposed in 1997 and construction began in 2009.