INTERNATIONAL. A strong recovery from the SARS-hit 2003 saw Asian airports rank as the fastest-growing in international passenger terms among the world’s leading 20 locations last year, according to just-released preliminary figures from Airports Council International (ACI).
Hong Kong International, Taipei Chiang Kai-Shek and Singapore Changi, with respective growth rates of +36.3%, +30.3% and +23.6%, all bounced back from the devastation caused by the health crisis in 2003. Bangkok also came back strongly, recording a +21.5% increase year-on-year. And in the US, New York JFK did well, generating a +13.6% increase to 17.3 million.
Other leading airports also performed well, with London Heathrow comfortably holding on to its number one spot. Its +6.4% growth brought the London gateway’s international passenger numbers to 60.2 million in 2004. Paris Charles de Gaulle claimed number two slot with 45.9 million passengers, followed by Frankfurt with 43.5 million.
Another notable performances was posted by Dubai International, which saw passenger numbers rise by +21.5% to 20.9 million, spurred by the expansion of dynamic national carrier Emirates. Among the top airports, Munich also shone. The German airport posted a traffic rise of +15.3% to just over 18 million.
Tokyo Narita also did well, recording an +18.8% increase to 26.6 million.
ACI, (www.aci.aero), “the voice of the world’s airports”, produces a wealth of excellent data on the business. It emphasises the figures are preliminary.
ACI WORLDWIDE AIRPORT INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER TRAFFIC STATISTICS – PRELIMINARY 2004 | ||||
RANK | COUNTRY | AIRPORT | INT PAX | 2004 VS 2003 (%) |
| 1. | UK | London (LHR) | 60,183,099 | +6.4 |
| 2. | France | Paris (CDG) | 45,925,512 | +6.1 |
| 3. | Germany | Frankfurt (FRA) | 43,477,766 | +7.3 |
| 4. | Netherlands | Amsterdam (AMS) | 42,320,690 | +6.6 |
| 5. | China | Hong Kong (HKG) | 36,300,000 | +36.3 |
| 6. | Singapore | Singapore (SIN) | 28,606,033 | +23.6 |
| 7. | UK | London (LGW) | 27,456,548 | +5.7 |
| 8. | Japan | Tokyo (NRT) | 26,643,501 | +18.8 |
| 9. | Thailand | Bangkok (BKK) | 25,825,064 | +21.5 |
| 10. | South Korea | Seoul (ICN) | 23,621,066 | +21.8 |
| 11. | UAE. | Dubai (DXB) | 20,868,995 | +21.5 |
| 12. | Spain | Madrid (MAD) | 19,922,166 | +9.4 |
| 13. | UK | London (STN) | 18,073,315 | +12.9 |
| 14. | Germany | Munich (MUC) | 18,002,155 | +15.3 |
| 15. | Taiwan | Taipei (TPE) | 17,721,939 | +30.3 |
| 16. | UK | Manchester (MAN) | 17,702,247 | +7.6 |
| 17. | US | New York (JFK) | 17,327,304 | +13.6 |
| 18. | Denmark | Copenhagen (CPH) | 17,307,376 | +8.1 |
| 19. | US | Los Angeles (LAX) | 16,479,066 | +12.7 |
| 20. | Switzerland | Zurich (ZRH) | 16,438,071 | +1.7 |
| Source: ACI | ||||
