Passenger traffic expands by 4% for the month of June

Passenger traffic continued along its growth path for the month of June. In the first half of 2013, the number of passengers passing through the world’s airports has increased by +3.2% year-to-date. Although passenger traffic has remained in positive territory over the twelve month period, growth has slowed to 2.9% on an annualized basis. The slowdown is mainly reflective of the weakening of domestic markets in North America and Europe stemming from fiscal uncertainties and an overall retreat from consumer spending over that period. Growth in domestic passenger traffic was almost flat in North America over the period from July 2012 to June 2013 while European airports experienced a decline of -3.1% in domestic traffic. Notwithstanding, the world’s major emerging market hub airports continue to counterbalance the developed world slowdown as many of them maintain double digit growth rates. Among the world’s busiest airports, Kula Lumpur (KUL), Dubai (DXB) and Istanbul (IST) expanded year-over-year passenger traffic by +22.3%, +17.5% and +12.1% respectively.

Air freight continues to exhibit signs of weakness with an overall year-over-year decline of -1.1% for the month of June. Except for Middle Eastern airports, airports across all regions experienced a drop in freight traffic for the month of June. The twelve month growth trend points to virtually no increase in freight traffic for the period as a whole. The slowdown in air freight is indicative of a sluggish international trade sector and relatively weak business confidence. With the slowing growth in exports destined for advanced economies, major freight hubs in Asia-Pacific are feeling the brunt of the slowdown. While Hong Kong (HKG) achieved modest growth of +1%, Shanghai (PVG) and Incheon (ICN) saw the volume of traffic dwindle by -4.1% and -1.7% respectively.

ACI World’s Economics Director Rafael Echevarne commented, “With the Euro area recession and overall sluggish consumer spending across European and North American economies, the loss of momentum in the demand for air transport is inevitable in these regions. On the other hand, emerging markets remain poised for a continued expansion as they now set the pace for growth in demand for travel as a whole. In the midst of the tourism season, trans-border passengers are showing their resilience in the face of economic uncertainty. International passenger traffic posted strong gains across all regions for the month of June. In particular, the Asia-Pacific region, which is home to many of world’s fastest growing airports, experienced an increase in their passenger traffic by +8.5% for the month.”

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