MEXICO. Airports holding company Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste (ASUR) posted a +10.2% increase in passenger numbers and an impressive surge in sales for the second quarter of the year up to 30 June 2003.
ASUR, the first privatised airport group in Mexico and operator of Cancun airport and eight others in the southeast of the country, released its latest statistics on passenger numbers and sales today, confirming excellent and resilient results for both the three-month and six-month period ended 30 June.
Total revenues for the second quarter increased by +13.3% to MXN 357.9 million (US$33.9 million). This strong result was due to increases in both the main revenue streams. Aeronautical revenue posted a rise of +11.5%due to an increase in passenger traffic, while revenue from non-aeronautical services increased by +21.0% a result of the +29.5% year-on-year increase in commercial income.
Retail revenues increased by +65.9% in the second quarter, following the opening of new convenience stores at the Veracruz, Huatulco, Tapachula and Villahermosa Airports. Duty free revenues rose by +12.8%, primarily because of the growth in international passenger traffic as well as an increased variety of products offered by the duty free operators.
Total revenues for the six-month period increased by +12.5% to MXN 722.7 million (US$68.5 million). As with the second quarter, revenues were driven by year-on-year improvement in first-half passenger traffic and commercial revenues, which improved by +34.3%.
In the first half, average spending per passenger in the stores at the check-in areas, particularly at Cancun airport, helped boost retail revenues by +57.5%.
Total passenger traffic increased by +10.2% year-on-year in the second quarter, of which domestic traffic increased by +16.4% and international increased by +6.1%. According to the statement, the growth in international passenger traffic was mainly due to a rise in passenger traffic at Cancun airport as a result of more flights on the Cancun-Panama route the June opening by America West of the Phoenix-Cancun route as well as larger planes flown by Delta Airlines in response to increased demand.
Total, domestic and international passenger traffic for the half year ended 30 June, increased year-on-year by +9.2%, +10.9% and +8.1% respectively.
