Airports in ME and AP Report Strong H1 2013 Growth

The latest ACI Passenger and Freight Flash Reports show that Asia Pacific airports recorded a +5.9% year-on-year growth in the first half of 2013, while airports in the Middle East saw a strong +11.6% compared to same period last year.

Passenger traffic for the month of June 2013 has increased by +6.6% in Asia Pacific and +10.6% in the Middle East comparing to June 2012.

Beijing (PEK), the airport with the highest passenger throughput in the region, handled 40.8 million passengers in H1 2013, 3.6% more than H1 2012.

Dubai (DXB) 32.7 million, +16.9% compared to same period last year. Tokyo Haneda (HND), 32 million, up 1.7%; Jakarta (CGK), 29.1 million, up 3.4%; Hong Kong (HKG), 28.8 million, up 4.9%.

In terms of international passenger traffic, Dubai (DXB) was the busiest airport in the region in H1 2013, followed by Hong Kong (HKG), Singapore (SIN), Bangkok (BKK) and Seoul Incheon (ICN).

Apart from Dubai, other major airports in the region recording double-digit growth in H1 2013 include Phuket (HKT, +19.5%), Hangzhou (HGH, +16.6%); Kuala Lumpur (KUL, +15.5%), Xiamen (XMN, +14.5%), Abu Dhabi (AUH, +12.6%) and Osaka (KIX, +12.3%).

For air cargo traffic, a slight decline of -1.1% was recorded at Asia Pacific airports in June 2013 comparing to June 2012 while Middle Eastern airports continued the upward trend with a +4.8% year-on-year growth. Cargo traffic from January to June 2013 showed a small drop of -0.7% in Asia Pacific and +6.1% increase in the Middle East comparing to same period last year.

The airport with the highest cargo throughput in H1 2013 was Hong Kong (HKG), handling close to 2 million tonnes of cargo, +1.9% higher than H1 2012. Shanghai Pudong (PVG) handled 1.3 million tonnes, down 2.9% year-on-year; Dubai (DXB), 1.2 million tonnes, up 11.4%; Seoul Incheon (ICN), 1.1 million tonnes, down 0.7% and Tokyo Narita (NRT), 0.9 million tonnes, down 4.0%.

Middle Eastern airports continue to do well in air cargo traffic, Dubai (DXB) and Abu Dhabi (AUH) showed a +11.4% and +21.5% increase respectively in H1 2013 compared to H1 2012. Other major airports in the region with double-digit growth in air cargo in H1 2013 were Hangzhou (HGH) up 13.6%, Xiamen (XMN), up 12.7% and Jakarta (CGK) up 11.7%.