Air cargo traffic at the world’s airports rose 3.6% to 85.6 million metric tonnes, while passengertraffic was up 4.8% on 2005, Airports Council International announced in its new World Airport
Traffic Report.Geneva-based ACI said the growth showed that performance is on track measured againstindustry growth forecasts.
“The statistics tell a great story – growth and stability. Threequarters of airportsworldwide reported positive passenger growth. The figures are equally positive in broader economicterms, with traffic closely aligned to world GDP growth of just over 5% in 2006,” said the directorgeneral of the organisation Robert Aaronson.
“In 2006, each region manifested trends that mirror improved global economic growth. Airportslook forward to playing a central role in a competitive environment as pillars of healthy local andregional economies, promoting new business development and stable employment,” he added.
The top five cargo airports by metric tonne were Memphis, Hong Kong, Anchorage, Seoul andTokyo, with Paris CDG and Frankfurt the top European ones.
The top five international freight airports, also by metric tonne, were Hong Kong, Seoul,Tokyo, Anchorage and Frankfurt.
Passenger traffic grew most in Asia Pacific (up 9.7%) and the Middle East (+8.6%). Domestictraffic growth rates in most regions were largely aligned with international results, said ACI,except in North America where domestic traffic was flat for the year (+0.5 %).
