Passengers up 2.7% in Asia-Pacific and 2.5% in Middle East in February 2019

Passenger traffic across Asia-Pacific and the Middle East recorded moderate growth at 2.7 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively.

Hong Kong – Airports Council International Asia-Pacific (ACI Asia-Pacific) Monthly Traffic Report has released its February 2019 statistics, revealing that passenger traffic across Asia-Pacific and the Middle East recorded moderate growth at 2.7 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively.

China posted a 7 percent year-on-year growth, sustained by solid domestic demands and supported by increased leisure travel demand during the Lunar New Year. The top three airports with the most passenger volume increase from last year were: Shenzhen (up 11 percent), Shanghai Hongqiao (up 12.7 percent) and Beijing (up 4.2 percent).

Passenger growth in India increased 2.2 percent year on year and continued to trend downward especially in the domestic sector. Passenger traffic this month was negatively affected by a number of factors, such as partial runway closures at Mumbai (down 7.7 percent) and Bangalore (up 8.9 percent), closure of Pakistani airspace arising from India-Pakistan tensions, and flight cancellations of a major airline. Mixed results were observed among other major airports in the country: Delhi (up 3 percent), Chennai (up 5.5 percent) and Kolkata (up 3.9 percent).

Elsewhere in Asia-Pacific, a number of airports reported strong growth likely benefited from vacation travels during the Lunar New Year: Seoul Incheon (up 5.3 percent) and Kuala Lumpur (up 3 percent)

In the Middle East, passenger growth continued to soften. Dubai, the largest hub in the region, declined 1.3 percent. Bahrain continued to report the highest growth in the region at 15.8 percent. Other high-growth airports in February included: Doha (6.1 percent), Muscat (up 9.9 percent) and Sharjah (up 8.5 percent).

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