INTERNATIONAL. Passenger traffic at the world’s airports climbed by +6% year-on-year in October, with international traffic surging by +6.3% and domestic up by +5.8% compared to a year earlier. That’s according to the latest figures from Airports Council International (ACI).
In the first ten months, overall passenger traffic rose by +4.9% with international volumes increasing by +5.8% year-on-year.
In October, noted ACI, the African continent continued its strong recovery in passenger traffic, although the results varied on a sub-regional level. Western Africa showed weakness in air transport demand, due in part to the Ebola crisis. Dakar, one of West Africa’s busiest airports, saw traffic drop by -11.5% in October.
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By contrast, North Africa’s passenger traffic strengthened after a bleak period in 2012 and 2013 due to the instability brought on by the Arab Spring. Cairo and Hurghada, two of Egypt’s major airports, saw passenger traffic jump back by +11% and +155.1% respectively for the month of October. Overall, African passenger traffic increased by +8.8% in the month.
The Middle East also achieved strong growth in passenger traffic at +7.6% for the month of October. Although top-ranked Dubai, the world’s busiest international airport, and second ranked Doha lead the region’s traffic volumes, growth primarily came from Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv. These airports posted gains of +17.4% and +10.7% respectively.
The Asia Pacific region experienced growth of +7.3% in overall passenger traffic in October. The domestic Chinese market continues to be a large contributor to growth. Several Chinese airports achieved double-digit gains in passenger traffic. The region’s top ranked airports-Beijing, Tokyo and Hong Kong -posted gains of +2.6%, +11.7% and +7.5% respectively.
European airports continue to recover slowly after the Euro area’s economic woes, which persisted throughout 2013. Despite this, passenger traffic was up by almost +6% in October. Istanbul Atatürk reported impressive gains at +12.8% year-on-year for the month of October. Traffic in Madrid (+7.9%) and Rome (+10.4%) bounced back following the weakness in these economies during the Euro area crisis.
Passenger traffic in Latin America-Caribbean and North American airports grew by +5.4% and +4.4% respectively.
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ACI World Economics Director Rafael Echevarne said: “Although there has been improvement in the US economy coupled with greater momentum in international trade volumes in Asia Pacific, downside risks continue to persist in other regions, particularly in the Euro area.
“The German economy has experienced weak industrial production and export growth, which may translate into weakness across its economy. Japan, Russia and Brazil are also stagnating. Many of these factors combined may adversely affect air transport demand.
“That being said, air travel has showed some level of immunity to the ongoing risks in the global economy despite its link to the overall business cycle. Growth in passenger traffic will still be in the realm of +5% for 2014 by year’s end with air freight also growing by over +4% as compared to 2013.”
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