Fraport less downbeat after June passenger data

FRANKFURT, July 9 (Reuters) - Frankfurt airport operator Fraport (FRAG.DE) has become slightly more optimistic about 2009 after a slump in passenger traffic eased sharply in June, a spokesman said on Thursday.

He confirmed reported remarks by Chief Executive Wilhelm Bender that a full-year decline of 8 percent was now seen as the worst-case scenario.

"And there we are being very conservative," he added.

Fraport had earlier said a passenger number decline of 6 to 9 percent was possible.

Fraport, which has sparked airline ire by proposing to raise airport fees by an average of 8.4 percent as of next year, is due to release June traffic data on Friday.

The number of passengers at Germany's biggest airport fell 8.6 percent in the first five months.

Fraport shares rose 1.8 percent to 29.45 euros by 0845 GMT while the mid-cap MDAX index .MDAXI gained 2.1 percent.

(Reporting by Alexander Huebner, Writing by Michael Shields; Editing by David Cowell)