Airport shares worldwide slide as traffic remains low in May-2009
Airport shares worldwide slid yesterday as Wall Street slumped on a weak jobs report and the Airports Council International (ACI) released weak traffic figures for May-2009. The operators of Rome Airport (Gemina) and Vienna Airport led the declines, down 4.4% and 4.0%, respectively.
Latest data from ACI shows worldwide passenger demand softened again in May-2009, falling 8% year-on-year. International passenger traffic tumbled by 9%, while domestic traffic declined by 7%, according to ACI.
Adding to the pressure on international travel, the UNWTO has slashed its global tourism outlook, revising downwards its forecast for the full year 2009, with international tourism now forecast to decrease by between -6% and -4% in 2009.
Some airports outperformed their local markets yesterday. Fraport's shares slid 2.1% as the Frankfurt Dax 30 index slumped 3.8%, while Aeroports de Paris eased 0.4% as the Paris CAC index dropped 3.1%.
Other positive performers yesterday include Aeroporto di Venezia (+2.6%), Copenhagen Airport (+2.4%), Xiamen Airport (+1.8%) and Shanghai Airport (+1.2%). Meanwhile, Macquarie Airports’ shares dropped 2.3%, going against the Sydney ASX 200 index which closed up 0.1%.
Selected airports daily share price movements (% change): 02-Jul-2009
