Passengers for Asia-Pacific and Middle East Airports are up 12% and 9% respectively.
HONG KONG – Boosted by holiday travels, passenger traffic across Asia-Pacific and the Middle East grew by +11.5% and +9.3% respectively in January 2017.
India continued to generate the highest growth rate in the Asia-Pacific region, backed by robust domestic passenger travels. New Delhi (DEL), the busiest airport in India, served 21% more passengers in January 2017 compared to the same period last year. Many airports delivered substantial gains in the month: Calcutta (CCU) +34.4%, Bangalore (BLR) +26.9%, and Goa (GOI) +26.6%.
The Chinese New Year holiday, that fell in the month of January this year, boosted growth in both international and domestic passenger traffic at many airports in the region. Kunming (KMG) recorded the highest growth in China at +20.6%, followed by Hangzhou (HGH) +18.7% and Xiamen (XMN) +17.1%. Elsewhere in the region, Kuala Lumpur (KUL) registered an increase of +15.7% and Seoul Incheon (ICN) gained +12.1%.
In the Middle East, passenger traffic growth remained resilient in January 2017. Dubai (DXB), the largest hub in the region, grew +9.7% from last year while Muscat (MCT) and Doha (DOH) led the Middle East, growing at +14.7% and 14% respectively.
In terms of air freight, Asia-Pacific grew +4.5% while the Middle East grew +8.2% in January 2017. The slower pace of growth in the Asia-Pacific was likely a result of factory closure during Chinese New Year. Among the major freight hubs, Mumbai (BOM) was the top runner growing at +27.1% followed by Doha (DOH) at +20.9%.
TABLE 1: Airports reporting highest preliminary year-on-year traffic growth rates in January 2017 1
| Top 3 airports by size category2 | ||||
| Passenger | Freight | |||
| > 40M | 25M to 40M | 15M to 25M | 5M to 15M | |
| Beijing (PEK) +8.5% | Manila (MNL) +7% | Abu Dhabi (AUH) +2.6% | Hyderabad (HYD) +26.2% | Hong Kong (HKG) +3.1% |
| Dubai (DXB) +9.7% |
Doha (DOH) +14% | Bangalore (BLR) 26.9% | Muscat (MCT) +14.7% | Shanghai Pudong (PVG) +7.6% |
| Tokyo Haneda (HND) +2.8% | Tokyo Narita (NRT) +8.3% | Xiamen (XMN) +17.1% | Osaka Itami (ITM) +2.6% | 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)
Angelos is the news editor for TravelDailyNews Media Network (traveldailynews.gr, traveldailynews.com and traveldailynews.asia). His role includes to monitor the hundrends of news sources of TravelDailyNews Media Network and skim the most important according to our strategy. He currently studies Communication, Media & Culture in Panteion University of Political & Social Studies of Athens.
