ACI Europe: European airport traffic growth stalls in 1Q2013
ACI Europe reported (03-May-2013) overall passenger traffic growth at European airports has been flat in the first three months of 2013, compared to 1Q2012. Overall freight traffic at European airports remained negative at -1.5% while aircraft movements fell 5.2%. Commenting on the results, ACI Europe director general Olivier Jankovec said "the first indication of traffic performance in 2013 clearly reflects the state of the European economy." EU airports registered a 2.1% decline in passenger traffic, on the back of record unemployment and much diminished economic sentiment while non-EU markets, led by Turkey, Georgia, Russia and also Iceland, continued to report growth, with an 8.9% increase in passenger traffic. Mr Jankovec added "the only comfort we can see is that M arch is looking slightly better than the preceding months, for EU airports." Details include:
- Airports with more than 25 million passengers p/a: +1.0% led by Istanbul Atarturk (+23.8%), Moscow Sheremetyevo (+14.8%), Antalya (+11.3%), London Heathrow (+3.9%) and Paris Orly (+2.7%);
- Airports with 10 million to 250 million passengers p/a: -0.1% led by Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen (+18.2%), St Petersburg (+14.6%), Geneva (+8.2%), Dublin (+7.8%) and Lisbon (+6.7%);
- Airports with 5 million to 10 million passengers p/a: +0.6% led by Bucharest (+34.6%), Ankara (+15.9%), Venice (+12.1%), Warsaw (+10.7%), Izmir (+9.6%) and Budapest (+9.6%);
- Airports with less than 5 million passengers p/a: -1.7% led by Arad (+181.0%), Ohrid (+118.5%), Chita (+55.5%), Chelyabinsk (+42.5%) and Batumi (+38.4%). [more - original PR]