Airports Council International (ACI) reported that with the slowdown of holiday travel and tourism in October 2016, global passenger traffic at the world’s major airports rose 5.1% year-over-year while international and domestic traffic grew 6.1% and 4.4% respectively. These figures are below the twelve-month average trends of 5.7%, 6.3% and 5.3%.

With the exception of Africa, which experienced a drop of 4.3%, all regions posted gains in passenger traffic. ACI said the ongoing security concerns in northern African States have left the region’s air transport demand in a weakened state.

In October 2016, Asia Pacific airports reported the greatest increase in passenger traffic with gains of 8.4%. Guangzhou (CAN), Incheon (ICN), New Delhi (DEL) and Kuala Lumpur (KUL), four of the region’s major hubs, grew 11.8%, 12.6%, 19.2% and 14.6% respectively.

At the same time, robust growth of 5.8% in passenger traffic was achieved across airports in the European region. Amsterdam (AMS) and Barcelona (BCN) grew 8.7% and 10.9% respectively.

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European Airports, pax traffic up by 6.1% in October 2016
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.
 

For a second consecutive month, air freight markets demonstrated strong gains. After witnessing a 5.7% growth rate for the month of September 2016, freight volume increased 6.6% in October 2016, far above the 2.1% twelve-month growth average.

The impressive 9.9% growth rate in international freight was accompanied by a 0.5% decline in domestic air freight volumes. All regions witnessed gains. The Middle East and Asia Pacific markets recorded the strongest growth at 11.5% and 10.2% respectively.

The release of new key electronic products in October 2016, mainly mobile devices, contributed to the surge of air freight traffic. Dubai (DXB) and Doha (DOH), the two main hubs in the Middle East, observed an increased growth rate of 9.5% and 21.5% respectively. Similarly, Shanghai (PVG), Incheon (ICN), Tokyo (NRT) and Taipei (TPE), four of the top 5 airports with respect to freight traffic in Asia-Pacific, witnessed double digit growth of 11.3%, 10.6%, 10.9% and 13.6% respectively.