Press Releases

Passenger Traffic Continues on Upward Trajectory at 5% Growth Year over Year in August

Montréal, 05 October 2012 – All regions posted strong year-over-year gains in passenger traffic in August 2012 although a major source of the sustained expansion in passenger traffic continues to be primarily from emerging markets. Major Asian airports such as Jakarta (CGK), Bangkok (BKK) and Singapore (SIN) each experienced double digit gains of +25.7%, +11.4%, +10.9% respectively. Moving westward, the airports of Dubai (DXB) and Istanbul (IST) also posted remarkable growth over +20% for the month of August. With the on-going uncertainty and fiscal challenges that hang over European and North American economies, the overall global freight markets remain sluggish as total freight was almost flat at +0.6% in August 2011. Although modest gains in freight traffic were observed in certain regions, Europe experienced a decline of -1.2% in traffic. The major freight hubs of Paris (CDG), Amsterdam (AMS) and Frankfurt (FRA) experienced declines of -10.2%, -4.1% and -4,0% respectively. Asia-Pacific also recorded weak performance in freight traffic with a year over growth of +0.4%.
ACI World’s Economics Director Rafael Echevarne commented, “On the whole, growth in passenger traffic has remained relatively consistent from month to month with overall growth rates in the realm of +4% over the last twelve months. Thus, air transport has been immune to the downside risks that have persisted in the global economy throughout 2011 and 2012. However, even with strong demand in emerging markets fuelling this growth, this phenomenon is not indefinite. Global air freight, on the other hand, is in a standstill with respect to growth in freight volumes from 2011. The evident contraction in European traffic is contributing to the overall lacklustre performance in air freight.”

TABLE 1: SUMMARY WORLDWIDE TRAFFIC RESULTS, August 2012 (% CHANGE)
 
 
August 2012
Over August 2011
Year to date
2012
12-month
 rolling year
PaxFlash
International passenger
5.7
5.6
5.4
Domestic passenger
3.5
3.6
3.4
Total passenger
4.5
4.5
4.3
FreightFlash
International freight
0.4
(1.4)
(1.7)
Domestic freight
1.3
(0.2)
(0.7)
Total freight
0.6
(1.2)
(1.6)

Click here to download the full PDF of this media release.

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Notes for editors

1. Airports Council International (ACI), the only worldwide association of airports, has 580 member airport authorities, which operate over 1,650 airports in 179 countries. ACI’s mission is to promote professional excellence in airport management and operations, and this mandate is carried out through the organization’s multiple training opportunities, as well as the customer service benchmarking programme, a wide range of conferences, industry statistical products and best practice publications.

2. PaxFlash and FreightFlash statistics are based on a significant sample of airports that provide regular monthly reports to ACI. They represent approximately 60% of total passenger traffic and 70% of total freight traffic worldwide. Commentary, tables and charts are based on preliminary data submitted by participating airports and are therefore subject to change.

3. Regional results and trend graphics are provided on thefull downloadable document.

4. For further information, contact Cheryl Marcell:CMarcell@aci.aero