After a slight hiccup in the previous year, the money spinners of the airport industry are back on the upward curve. Revenues for the top 45 reporting airport authorities in 1994/5 rose 8.3 per cent, while their collective net profits leapt an enormous 17.8 per cent.
The resumption of normal business follows a slight glitch in 1993/4 when profits actually fell 5.8 per cent against a small growth in revenue. The collective net margin for 1994/5 remains healthy at 12.3 per cent.
As always this financial data should be treated with caution. Not only do the types of operations undertaken by the airport operators vary, but so do the ways in which revenues and net profits reported are calculated. Moreover, year-on-year comparisons are difficult because not all the authorities that reported last year have done so again and vice versa. Indeed, a number of those that do report their finances consistently often restate the results of the previous year, some to considerable degrees.
Newcomers among the 45 authorities listed by financial performance, include the three national airport authorities for Brazil, Indonesia and Sweden - the latter incorporates Stockholm/Arlanda which reported for the first time last year - and Athens, Malaga and Kansas.
The best performing airports in terms of revenue growth are dominated by the German authorities, but a large part of this is due to the strength of the Deutsch mark against the US dollar. Indeed, the authority showing the best growth where US dollar exchange rates remained stable, is Korea Airports Authority with a massive 26.7 per cent jump in revenue.
On the profits side, only four operators report a loss for 1994/5 and three register increases of over 100 per cent. Manchester had a leap of 200 per cent, albeit from a low base. The Korean and Indonesian Airports Authorities reported profit jumps of 148 and 105 per cent respectively.
In passenger terms, there is no change at the top of the ranking of the largest 50 airports in the world. Chicago/ O'Hare remains the undisputed number one overall, while London/Heathrow comfortably retains its international crown. But for freight traffic Tokyo/Narita is finally acknowledged as the world's largest, jumping up the table from third to first place.
In passenger growth terms, all but one of the top five are in the US. Charlotte reports the largest growth with a 19.9 per cent jump, followed by Las Vegas with 19.4 per cent and Seoul with 18.5 per cent. But Atlanta stands out as the most consistent performer. The airport has jumped from fourth to second in the world with 54.09 million passengers in 1994. This should be contrasted with sixth place in 1992 with some 42.03 million passengers - a 28 per cent increase in three years.
Two major airports opened during the period covered by this survey. Osaka/Kansai airport opened in September 1994 and 5.1 million passengers used it from then on until the end of the year. Passenger traffic for the two Osaka airports was 25.5 million in 1994, up 8.9 per cent on 1993.
Denver International opened at the end of February 1995 when Stapleton closed, hence the combined traffic in the first half 1995 figures.
Chicago/O'Hare failed to report its first half 1995 figures and therefore Atlanta tops that list. But the best passenger growth figure in that period is recorded by Brussels with 37.4 per cent, followed by Seoul, St Louis and Houston/IAH.
Source: Airline Business
