INTERNATIONAL. Worldwide passenger traffic grew by +6.8% in 2015, according to a preliminary version of the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) Air Transport Yearly Monitor.
The level of growth is +1.0 percentage points higher than that recorded in 2014 (+5.8%) and is the largest since the post-recession rebound in 2010.
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International passenger traffic increased by +6.7% year-on-year, which is above the +6.0% growth recorded in 2014. The Middle East was once again the fastest growing region. Europe increased by +5.5% and accounted for the largest share of international RPKs (revenue passenger kilometres) at 37%.
Among the major domestic markets, India posted the highest growth at +20.2%.
“Despite the moderate economic growth in 2015, passenger traffic demand remained strong due to the lower air fares offered by carriers benefiting from the substantial fall in oil price,” noted ICAO.
Capacity worldwide increased by +6.1% in 2015, which is +0.5 percentage points higher than the 2014 expansion (+5.6%). Capacity growth ranged from +0.9% in Africa to +13.8% in the Middle East. Total passenger traffic growth outstripped the increase in capacity by +0.7 percentage points, resulting in an improvement in passenger load factor.
The passenger load factor reached 80.2%, the highest level in the past 10 years.
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ICAO’s report also ranks global airports by aircraft departures and passenger numbers. The top 15 airports reported a year-on-year growth in passengers of +6.1% in 2015, with all of them posting an increase.
The world’s top five busiest airports by numbers of passengers were Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International (+5.5%), Beijing Capital International (+4.4%), Dubai International (+10.7%), Chicago O’Hare International (+9.8%) and Tokyo International (+3.4%). Of the top 15, Shanghai Pudong International recorded the highest growth, at +16.3%.
In terms of aircraft departures, the top 15 airports reported a year-on-year growth of +1.2%. More than half of them were US airports, four were in Europe, and the remaining two were in Asia Pacific.
Atlanta ranked first with growth of +1.6%, while Shanghai again recorded the largest growth, at +11.5%. ICAO said this corresponded with strong domestic traffic demand in China.
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The top 15 global airports in 2015 ranked by passenger numbers |
