Asia-Pacific airports recorded a growth of 6.6% in passenger traffic in August 2012

Asia-Pacific airports continued showing a steady growth in passenger traffic in August 2012 and recorded a +6.6% increase compared to August 2011 while Middle Eastern airports’ passenger traffic grew by 16.2% year-on-year, according to the latest ACI Passenger and Freight Flash Reports.

Year-to-date passenger traffic for the period of January to August 2012 showed an increase of 7.9% and 11.8% respectively for Asia-Pacific and Middle East areas.

Beijing (PEK) handled 7.5 million passengers in August 2012 and remained the airport in the region with the highest passenger throughput. Tokyo Haneda (HND) handled 6.5 million passengers took second place followed by Hong Kong (HKG) with over 5.1 million passengers. The other 2 airports in the top 5 were Dubai (DXB) and Jakarta (CGK), both handled about 4.8 million passengers during the month.

In terms of air cargo traffic, Asia-Pacific and Middle Eastern airports recorded a slight increase of +0.4% and +0.1% respectively in August 2012 compared to August 2011. Year-to-date cargo traffic showed a decrease of -0.7% in the Asia-Pacific area and an increase of 2.9% in the Middle-East area.

Hong Kong (HKG), once again, was the airport in the region with the highest cargo throughput, processing over 328,000 tonnes of cargo in August 2012. Shanghai Pudong (PVG) with 241,000 tonnes, Seoul Incheon (ICN) with 194,000 tonnes as well as Dubai (DXB) and Tokyo Narita (NRT) with almost 191,000 and 157,000 tonnes respectively are the 4 other busiest cargo airports in the region.

Commenting on the August traffic record, ACI Asia-Pacific Regional Director Mrs. Patti Chau said: “With the uncertainty of the global economy still persisting, in particular in the developed countries, air cargo traffic remains flat in August and overall, during the first eight months of the year. With a stronger-than-expected 10% growth in Chinese exports in September, we are hopeful that the cargo traffic for both Asia-Pacific and Middle East will pick up speed again and positive figures will be achieved at year-end.”