EUROPE. European passenger traffic rose +5.6% in the first quarter of 2005 compared with the same period last year, according to Airports Council International (ACI) Europe.
The overall passenger traffic in March 2005 was up by +7.0% year-on-year, spurred mainly by the robust growth at Grade 4 airports which welcome less than 5 million passengers annually.
Small airports such as Katowice Airport in Poland and Riga International Airport in Latvia recorded year-on-year increases of +264.5% and +104.2% respectively, pointing significantly to the popularity of Eastern European routes operated by low-cost airlines.
ACI Europe says the average increase posted by Group 4 airports in March was +12.8% over March 2004 – an average rise of +25.6% over March 2003.
Traffic at airports handling between 10 and 25 million passengers annually, Group 2, rose by +6.6% year-on-year; a +18.0% improvement over March 2003.
Group 3 airports, which welcome between 5 and 10 million passengers, recorded a +6.4% year-on-year rise, a +14.8% increase over March 2003.
Group 1 airports, which process more than 25 million passengers, saw a growth of +6.0% year-on-year, up +14.6% over March 2003.
Examples of airports experiencing the highest increase in passenger traffic per group in March 2005 against March 2004 include:
Group 1 airports: London Gatwick (+15.4%), Madrid Barajas (+12.0%) and Paris Charles de Gaulle (+6.3%)
Group 2 airports: Lisbon (+19.9%), Manchester International (+13.3%) and Dublin International (12.5%)
Group 3 airports: Budapest (+41.8%), Warsaw (+19.5%) and Geneva International (+17.9%)
Group 4 airports: Katowice (+264.5%), Riga International (+104.2%) and Valencia (+47.1%).
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