A burst of growth towards the end of 1996 kept traffic increasing for the year at the world's airports, and the signs are that the good news could continue.
Preliminary returns from the Airport Council International (ACI)which represents close to 500 airports around the world, suggest that growth in passenger numbers edged back above the 6% mark, after having faltered in 1995. That was comfortably ahead of the 5%growth which was being forecast at the start of the year. The ACI points out that the annual figure was buoyed up by a "big surge" around the close of the year - 8.3% in December - and judging by airline returns, some of the momentum appears to have carried through into 1997.
Freight growth was only slightly behind at just under the 6%mark, led by a strong showing in the Asia Pacific region. Notably, the number of world flights, including non-air-transport movements, grew by only 1.7%, suggesting a continuing growth in the size of aircraft.
North American boom
A large part of the passenger increase is because of the boom in North America, which accounts for close to half the world's airport traffic. The region's airports handled an extra 70 million over the year. Notably, the volume of aircraft movements was virtually unchanged.
Among the big hubs leading the charge was Atlanta Hartsfield, which came close to double- digit growth in the year in which it hosted the Olympic Games. The Delta Air Lines hub broke through the 60 million-passenger barrier, although it has yet to catch Chicago O'Hare, which remains the world's busiest passenger airport. Los Angeles International also climbed up the world league table into third place, edging ahead of London Heathrow and Dallas Fort Worth, home of American Airlines, which continued to have lower growth in 1996.
Despite a dip in cargo volumes, European passenger numbers forged ahead in 1996, including 12% growth at Paris Charles de Gaulle as it recovered from the strike action which had sent the international hub into decline during 1995. Paris Orly, which is at the heart of battles within France's newly liberalised domestic market, was more sedate, however, falling back behind Amsterdam's fast-growing Schiphol. The other main change in Europe is at the bottom of the league, where Düsseldorf fell out of the top ten with little over 14 million passengers, after being hit by a fire.
The Asia Pacific region continued to lead world growth, headed by the familiar names of Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo - although, as ever, the preliminary ACIreturns exclude some major hubs which have yet to report. The most significant shift in the league is the rise of the Bangkok hub, which edged above Singapore, with close to 25 million passengers.
Source: Flight International
