Airports in Asia Pacific Record 3.5% Increase in Passenger Traffic

According to data compiled by ACI, passenger traffic for the month of July 2014 maintained a steady growth rate with airports in Asia Pacific recording a year-on-year increase of +3.5%, while airports in the Middle East posted an increase of +5.0%.

For year-to-date passenger traffic from January to July 2014, the Middle East has enjoyed a strong increase of +8.4%, while Asia Pacific posted an increase of +4.2%.

From January to July 2014, the top 5 busiest airports in the two regions were Beijing (PEK, +1.6%), Tokyo Haneda (HND, +5.6%), Dubai (DXB, +4.9%), Hong Kong (HKG, +6.1%) and Jakarta (CGK, -5.2%).

Tokyo Haneda (HND)’s growth was partially attributed to the strong increase in international passenger traffic (+21.7%), whereas Jakarta (CGK) was impacted by a slowdown of domestic passenger traffic (-6.4%).

The Middle Eastern airports continued to demonstrate sturdy growth for the year to date, with Abu Dhabi (AUH, +19.7%) and Doha (DOH, +14%) posting double-digit growth.

Other airports reporting growth rates in excess of 15% include: Bangkok Don Muang (DMK, +21.5%), Kaohsiung (KHH, +20.5%), Chiang Mai (CNX, +19.4%) and Goa (GOI, +17.4%).

Freight volumes continue to show signs of strong recovery with improvements in global trade and commerce. Cargo traffic recorded robust growth for the month of July 2014.

Asia Pacific airports recorded a year-on-year growth of +6.8% while the Middle East recorded growth of +12.0%. Year-to-date growth was +5.1% for Asia Pacific and +9.6% for the Middle East.

The strong growth in the Middle East was primarily driven by the recent expanded operations at Doha (DOH) and Dubai World Central (DWC).

The top 5 airports in the two regions with the highest cargo throughput from January to July 2014 are Hong Kong (HKG, +6.7%), Shanghai Pudong (PVG, +8.3%), Seoul Incheon (ICN, +3.9%), Dubai (DXB, -3.1%) and Tokyo Narita (NRT, +9.0%).