Passenger traffic in Asia-Pacific and Middle East grew 7% and 12.3% respectively in November 2016
26-Jan-2017 In November 2016, Asia-Pacific and Middle East reported passenger traffic increase at +7.0% and +12.3% respectively.
In Asia-Pacific, robust domestic passenger travels continued to fuel India's growth trajectory with many airports generating substantial increase in November 2016 over the same period last year: Calcutta (CCU) +26.6%, Bangalore (BLR) +26.0%, Hyderabad (HYD) +24.7%. In China, sizable growth was observed in both domestic and international passenger travels. The top runners were: Chengdu (CTU) +22.5%, Xi'an (XIY) +14.2% and Kunming (KMG) +14.1%.
Elsewhere in the region, Auckland (AKL) posted an increase of +12.4% in November 2016 driven primarily by new seat capacity; the airport has been on a growth momentum since late 2015 and consistently reporting double-digit monthly increase.
In the Middle East, current month's passenger traffic growth regained strength. Dubai (DXB), the largest hub in the region, recorded +9.4% more passengers than the same month last year. Doha (DOH) was the bright spot in the region delivering growth at +23.3%, its highest monthly growth thus far in 2016.
In terms of air freight, both Asia-Pacific and Middle East delivered strong results growing at +9.5% and +9.9% respectively recovering from a stagnant market that persisted from the end of 2015 to early 2016.
Current month's growth in Asia-Pacific was largely driven by increased demand for the year-end rush, plus new cargo flows likely generated from e-commerce. The top three freight hubs all delivered robust increase: Hong Kong (HKG) +7.1%, Shanghai Pudong (PVG) +11.6% and Seoul Incheon (ICN) +9.5%.
In the Middle East, major air freight hubs continued to report significant gains in November especially in Doha (DOH) +24.6% and Dubai (DXB) +7.5%.
TABLE 1: Airports reporting highest preliminary year-on-year traffic growth rates in November 2016 1
| Top 3 airports by size category2 | ||||
| Passenger | Freight | |||
| > 40M | 25M to 40M | 15M to 25M | 5M to 15M | |
| Beijing (PEK) +6.5% | Manila (MNL) +11%
|
Seoul Gimpo (GMP) +3.1% | Calcutta (CCU) +26.6% | Hong Kong (HKG) +7.1% |
| Tokyo Haneda (HND) +2.6% | Tokyo Narita (NRT) +6.1% | Bangalore (BLR) +26% | Osaka Itami (ITM) +4% | Shanghai Pudong (PVG) +11.6% |
| Dubai (DXB)
+9.4% |
Xi'an (XIY) +14.2% | Fukuoka (FUK) +4% | Hyderabad (HYD) +24.7% | Seoul Incheon (ICN) +9.5% |
Note:
- ACI preliminary passenger and freight statistics are based on a significant sample of airports that provide regular monthly reports to ACI. They represent approximately 60% of total passenger traffic and 70% of total freight traffic worldwide. Commentary, tables and charts are based on preliminary data submitted by participating airports and are therefore subject to change.
- Size categories refer to the annual passenger traffic (in the last 12 months)