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On April 22nd, Frankfurt Airport opens Terminal 3 to the public. For most travelers, it's a new terminal. For Designa, it's the next chapter of a partnership that started years ago with Terminal 1 and 2 - and the most technically complex deployment we've done at Fraport to date.
A project years in the making
Fraport is one of the largest parking operations in the world. Round-the-clock traffic. Millions of transactions per year. Extremely high IT and GDPR requirements. On-site support staffed 24/7 by dedicated technicians. When you operate at this scale, everything has to work - every time.
Designa has been part of that infrastructure since the beginning. Terminals 1 and 2 run on Designa ticket-based systems, handling enormous volumes daily. Terminal 3 introduced a new challenge: modernize, without disrupting what was already running.
What's new in Terminal 3
The centerpiece is ticketless operation. Where Terminals 1 and 2 rely on physical tickets, Terminal 3 uses license plate recognition as the primary credential - with barcode as backup. This is the first time this mode has been deployed at Fraport, and it changes the operational picture significantly. Fewer lost tickets. No ticket jams. No unreadable barcodes. Less staff required to manage the lanes.
The hardware is equally new. Terminal 3 marks the first worldwide deployment of the latest generation of Designa's Connect double-deck terminals. Integrated directly into each barrier: Survision LPR cameras, display screens, and digital locking systems to minimize vandalism and unauthorized access.
Payment options have expanded too. Pay-by-plate and PayMobile are live at Fraport for the first time. Alongside cashless terminals, cash & card units, and interfaces for third-party systems including Deister readers for Fraport's special traffic.
In total: 10 cashless terminals, 8 cash & card units, 11 entry and exit terminals, 13 double-deck terminals, and 36 barriers - covering standard terminal drop-off and pick-up, VIP lanes, public buses, Uber, and taxi zones.
Integrated into a live operation in three months
The installation timeline was tight by any standard. From start to finish, Designa completed physical installation in around three months - while Terminals 1 and 2 remained fully operational. Integration ran directly into the existing server infrastructure. Testing happened bilaterally, with patches and developments turned around quickly on both sides.
The result is a single operation running two modes simultaneously: ticket-based at T1 and T2, ticketless at T3 - all on Designa infrastructure.
What Fraport represents
Projects like this don't happen without a long-term relationship. Fraport requires 24/7 on-site support, high operational uptime, and strict compliance standards. The scale alone puts it in a category of its own - and it's one Designa has been supporting for years.
Terminal 3 is the next step in a modernization journey that Fraport has been driving deliberately: toward digital payments, reduced mechanical complexity, and smarter infrastructure.
Frankfurt Airport sets the bar. Terminal 3 raises it.
