ACI: Pax traffic growth continues, cargo remains weak in Jun-2013

ACI reported (06-Aug-2013) passenger traffic continued along its growth path in Jun-2013, with a 4% year-on-year increase while 1H2013 traffic increased 3.2%. The industry association stated that although passenger traffic has remained in positive territory over the past two months, growth has slowed to 2.9% on an annualised basis, attributing the slowdown to weakening of domestic markets in North America and Europe stemming from fiscal uncertainties and an overall retreat from consumer spending over the period. Notwithstanding, the world's major emerging market hub airports continued to counterbalance the developed world slowdown with many of them maintaining double digit growth rates including Kuala Lumpur (+22.3%), Dubai (+17.5%) and Istanbul (+12.1%). Air freight continued to be weak with a decline of 1.1% in Jun-2013. With the exception of Middle Eastern airports, airports across all regions experienced a decline during the month. 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 achieved modest growth of +1%, Shanghai Pudong and Seoul Incheon saw the volume of traffic decline by 4.1% and 1.7%, respectively. [more - original PR]

ACI: "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," Rafael Echevarne, Economic Director. Source: Company statement, 06-Aug-2013.