ACI Asia-Pacific airports reported 4.9 percent passenger growth

MAR 18, 2015: Asia-Pacific airports started year 2015 with an encouraging average growth rate of +4.9 percent in passenger traffic, while the Middle Eastern airports posted an even more encouraging growth of +11.4 percent year-on-year.

However, mixed results were shown among the reporting airports. Among the top 10 busiest airports in the region, half showed positive growth while the rest reported decrease in traffic from last year. In Asia, Beijing (PEK) continued to lead as the busiest airport in the region serving close to 7 million passengers in January 2015. New Delhi (DEL) grew at +17.5 percent in the month and is likely to surpass 40 million1 by the end of 2015. Bangkok Don Muang (DMK) recorded the highest growth rate (+46.7 percent) among all reporting airports. In the Middle East, the strong passenger volume was contributed by double digit growth in the following airports: Kuwait (KWI) +22.2 percent, Abu Dhabi (AUH) +20.7 percent, Doha (DOH) +18 percent.

In terms of air freight traffic for the month, Asia-Pacific reported growth at +3.4 percent. Among the leading cargo airports in the region, Tokyo Haneda (HND) reported highest growth from last year at +21.4 percent. The Middle East continued to deliver strong performance at +9.6 percent with several airports reporting double digit growth year over year: Dubai (aggregated DXB & DWC2) +16.3 percent, Doha (DOH) +11.8 percent and Abu Dhabi (AUH) +11 percent.