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Airports report flat traffic growth in 2008 2008 Headline figures - Total worldwide passenger growth of +0.1%
Fastest growing region was the Middle East at 5.8% followed by Africa (+4.9%) and Latin America Caribbean (+2.1%)
Asia Pacific and Europe grew by 1.2%
North America only region with decrease in traffic (-3.1%)
- Total aircraft movements handled by airports was 77 million, a decrease of 2.1%
- Total cargo handled decreased by 3.7% to 86 million tonnes
- 51% of airports worldwide registered positive passenger growth in 2008, together these airports represent 49% of total passenger traffic
- 520 airports with more than 5 million passengers experienced a decrease in passengers compared to only 21 airports in 2007
Passenger traffic ACI member airports, representing approximately 98 percent of global airport traffic, report that the total number of passengers rose marginally in 2008 to 4.874 billion passengers, compared to 4.869 billion in 2007. The relentless climb of oil prices which spiked in July and the turbulent financial and economic climate that emerged in the second half of 2008 countered positive results achieved in first two quarters of the year. These two key factors sparked a negative trend that has continued into 2009 (see monthly press releases). International passenger traffic, which accounts for 42 percent of global traffic, was up by 2.4 percent for the year as compared to a decline of 1.4 percent in domestic traffic.
Global industrial production began to contract in July 2008 followed by a sharp drop in global trade volumes in the last quarter leading to a collapse in global air freight peaking in December 2008. As a result cargo volumes worldwide fell by 3.7 percent in 2008. Domestic freight dropped more sharply by 5.4 percent whereas international freight suffered from a milder 2.4 percent contraction. Looking at some key markets, for the year, the Asia Pacific region lost 25% of its previous year volume in December. The U.S. remained by far the largest air cargo market in the world accounting for a third of the global volume even though it shrank by 9.1 percent both in domestic and international freight. China (including Hong Kong) ranked second accounting for 13 percent of global air shipments. Total freight in China grew by 1.8 percent, with almost equal growth levels in the domestic and international markets.
Aircraft movements worldwide reached 77 million, which given the larger sample this year actually represents a decline of 2.1 percent compared to 2007. This figure includes cargo, military, general aviation, combi flights and passenger aircraft movements. Passenger/combi aircraft movements – a category of particular interest for commercial purposes – decreased by 0.5 percent to 55.8 million. That translates into 87.3 passengers per movement, which is actually an improvement of 0.7 percent over 2007. The largest decrease of passenger/ combi aircraft movements was registered in the U.S., down by 4.2 percent. General Aviation and military flights in the U.S. were down by 10.7 percent. Useful Links
The ACI World Airport Traffic Report 2008 is a 600-page document which includes analysis and trend charts, country-by-country and airport-by-airport results can be ordered from ACI in the Publications section of this website. This year’s edition is based on traffic reports submitted by a record number of 1357 airports. The Top 30 Airports 2008 - Total passenger traffic The Top 30 Airports 2008 - Cargo traffic The Top 30 Airports 2008 - Aircraft movements
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