Chinese airports are the largest contributor to global growth in air transport demand

Montréal, 26 September 2017 – Airports Council International (ACI) has released the latest edition of the World Airport Traffic Report. ACI’s flagship publication, representing over 2,400 airports in 175 countries worldwide, reveals that airports in China contributed 21.6% to the overall increase in global passenger traffic from 2015 to 2016. This was followed by the United States (12.6%) and India (8.8%).
“The Chinese contribution alone represented an increase of over 100 million passengers in a single year, equivalent to the total annual traffic of Atlanta-Hartsfield (ATL), the world’s busiest airport in the United States,” said Angela Gittens, Director General, ACI World. “A similar occurrence is observed with respect to the global share of year over year increases in air cargo volumes (23.5%) and aircraft movements (27.6%) that are handled by Chinese airports.” Aviation shifts eastward, capitalizing on the demographic dividend Besides China’s contribution to global growth, several other Asian countries are also home to some of the fastest growing airports in the world. Aviation continues to shift eastward, capitalizing on the demographic dividend. ACI’s Emerging Aviation Market Index, which tracks 19 high growth emerging markets that have a significant critical mass of passenger and air cargo throughput, accounts for 38.5% and 33.9% of global traffic respectively. Countries such as India, Indonesia and Vietnam have achieved double-digit growth on an annualized basis since 2006 and are poised to grow even more in the future as subject to infrastructure capacity considerations. Similarly, countries like the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Turkey, home to global connecting hubs, have experienced exponential growth in under a decade. “85% of the world resides in emerging markets and developing economies. China and India alone represent over 35% of the world’s population. Growing incomes, a burgeoning middle class and peaking working age populations in some of these markets has translated into the rapid rise in the propensity to travel. Thus, it is no surprise that China, the most populous country on the globe, was the leading contributor to global growth in passenger traffic in 2016,” Gittens concluded. Key statistics in brief
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Notes for editors |
1.Airports Council International (ACI), the trade association of the world’s airports, was founded in 1991 with the objective of fostering cooperation among its member airports and other partners in world aviation, including the International Civil Aviation Organization, the International Air Transport Association and the Civil Air Navigation Services Organization. In representing the best interests of airports during key phases of policy development, ACI makes a significant contribution toward ensuring a global air transport system that is safe, secure, efficient and environmentally sustainable. As of January 2017, ACI serves 623 members operating 1,940 airports in 176 countries.
2. Learn more on, and/or order the ACI World Airport Traffic Report. With comprehensive data coverage for over 2,400 airports in 175 countries worldwide, ACI’s flagship publication remains the authoritative source and industry reference for the latest airport traffic trends, rankings and data rankings on air transport demand. |
Media contact |
Sabrina Guerrieri Manager, Communications ACI World Telephone: +1 514 373 1223 Email: mediarelations@aci.aero |
Anita Berthier Manager, External Relations and Special Events ACI World Telephone: +1 514 373 1254 Email: mediarelations@aci.aero |
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