Global passenger traffic grows modestly by 1.8% in April: ACI

Airports Council International (ACI) recently said passenger traffic at airports increased modestly by +1.8% in April 2013.

Airports also reported moderate increases of +2.4% in international passenger traffic and 1.3% in domestic passenger traffic compared to April 2012.

Regional disparities persist with markets like the Middle East posting significant year-over-year (YoY) gains at +10.2% in passenger traffic, while North America and Europe remain almost flat at -0.3% and +0.4% respectively.

Many major European airports are feeling the brunt of the economic slowdown. Madrid, Paris, Frankfurt and London all experienced declines in traffic during the month of April. However, other airports such as Dubai, Istanbul and Kuala Lumpur continue to experience double digit gains.

Total freight traffic worldwide increased by +1% in April 2013. Growth continues to be mixed across airports since approximately 50% of the world’s top 20 air freight hubs registered declines in air freight volume for the month of April.

Looking at the volume of traffic over a 12-month horizon, from May 2012 to April 2013, there is negligible growth in air freight at a +0.4%. Nevertheless, Hong Kong and Memphis, two of the world’s busiest air freight airports, posted relatively strong gains amidst the economic uncertainty in April at +4.5% and +4.3% respectively.

ACI, the only worldwide association of airports, has 580 member airport authorities, which operate over 1,650 airports in 179 countries.