INTERNATIONAL. Global airport passenger traffic climbed by +4.8% year-on-year in January, with international traffic rising by +5.3%, according to the latest figures from Airports Council International (ACI). Domestic passenger volumes worldwide grew by +4.7%.
The Asia Pacific region was a major contributor to the total growth figures, with a year-on-year increase of +9.2% in passenger traffic. Jakarta, Hong Kong and Guangzhou all posted gains in the number of passengers of over +15% for January.
The Middle East and Latin America also posted strong increases in total passenger numbers, at +11% and +6.4% respectively.
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International passenger volume growth was driven by the Middle East (+11.6%) and Asia Pacific (+10.2%) in January. Latin America showed a gain of +5.4% with Europe at +3.4% and North America at +2.4%. Africa was the only market that declined in international passenger terms (-7.1%).
Against this, cargo traffic, a key barometer of economic health, declined sharply worldwide.
ACI World Economics Director Rafael Echevarne said: “Despite the climate of uncertainty sweeping across many economies, passenger growth was relatively stable and consistent over 2011. We expect to see continued stability in global passenger growth over the months to come. In contrast, air freight has had a mixed picture. The December 2011 figures showed us that air freight was stabilizing to the levels of 2010. However, while the Chinese New Year is playing a role in January’s recent decline, the shroud of uncertainty hanging over global air freight makes it difficult to predict future growth patterns in the short run, particularly under such volatility across regions.”
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