European airport trade association ACI EUROPE released its traffic report for October 2016. Passenger traffic across the European airport network in October 2016 reported a robust increase of 6.1%. According to ACI EUROPE, this is the best monthly performance since March, reflective of a continued traffic dynamic in the EU and the return of growth in the non-EU bloc.

Airports in the EU saw passenger traffic increase by an average of 7.1%, with double digit growth in Southern & Eastern Europe, particularly in Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and Spain.

Passenger traffic at non-EU airports grew by 2.7%, a welcome development following nearly 6 consecutive months of traffic losses. This is the result of a combination of improved traffic performance for Russian airports, a traffic recovery gathering pace for airports in Turkey as well as sustained growth in other countries such as Ukraine and Georgia . Iceland alone had a passenger traffic increased by nearly 50%.

At the same time, freight traffic across Europe jumped by 8.7%, the best monthly performance since May 2011. While EU airports registered an average increase in freight traffic of 7%, non-EU ones reported an increase of 22.9%. Meanwhile, aircraft movements were up by 4.2%.

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Asia-Pacific, ME airports, pax up by 10% & 12% in September 2016
Airports Council International (ACI) released the September 2016 traffic report for Asia-Pacific and Middle East . In September 2016, Asia-Pacific and Middle East delivered passenger traffic increase at 9.8% and 11.9% respectively. For the year-to-date, both Asia-Pacific and Middle East grew 10%.
 

Olivier Jankovec, Director General ACI EUROPE said: “October saw passenger traffic picking up further – with the negative impact of the terror attacks that took place earlier in the year and of the failed coup in Turkey gradually receding. Both the passenger and freight dynamics reflected a generally improved macro-economic environment, especially in the EU – as well as low oil prices. However, the prospect of oil price hikes and the risk of decreasing business & consumer confidence on the back on heightened geopolitical instability may well confront us with different traffic dynamics in the coming months.”