Largest private 5G network to be developed at Frankfurt airport

Fraport and NTT Ltd. are building Europe’s largest private 5G campus network at Frankfurt Airport (FRA). The two companies are making an important contribution to further advancing the digital transformation at Germany’s most important aviation hub.

The private 5G network gives Fraport an environment in which it can control data and voice communication autonomously. Thanks to the network’s high bandwidth and low latency, Fraport will be able to accelerate innovative projects, such as autonomous driving on the apron. The 5G network also enables real-time data transfer. This may be necessary for future applications such as video-based monitoring of airport facilities via robots or drones. 

Work on building the 5G network infrastructure at FRA is expected to begin in the third quarter of 2022. The two project partners will start testing the new technology in a selected area of the airport. At the same time, they will evaluate the first use cases in the areas of automation, robotics, sensors, localisation, and communication. 

From 2023 onward, the network infrastructure will be gradually expanded across the entire airport premises covering more than 20 square kilometres. Fraport’s other partner companies at Frankfurt Airport will then also be able to obtain access to the 5G campus network.