Chris Jasper/LONDON
From a statistical point of view, the global airport picture last year was dominated by the Asian economic collapse, with the Asia-Pacific region suffering a major decline in passenger traffic and aircraft movements. Cargo traffic, with a few notable exceptions, was depressed everywhere.
Early indicators for this year, however, suggest that the worst may be over. The latest figures show that the Asian passenger and cargo markets have stopped shrinking and reflect signs of modest growth.
While these airport statistics tally with the positive noises coming from some major airlines (Lufthansa says its Asian passenger traffic should recover fully by the end of the year, for example), the recovery trend remains patchy, and some Asian airports are still treading water.
Elsewhere, this year is set to produce sustained growth across most indicators as carriers, and hence airports, shrug off the knock-on effects of the Asian slump, although Latin America may struggle to sustain its hitherto impressive performance.
Figures produced by Airports Council International (ACI), which records data for nearly 570 airports worldwide, reveal that January's passenger traffic for the Asia-Pacific region was up by 0.3% compared with the same month last year, representing the first improvement for 15 months.
This may only be a small improvement, but is looks like Asia-Pacific may be on the road to recovery, says Maria Hinayon, ACI's senior manager, statistics and data processing. It seems that it is coming out of the doldrums and there are hopes of a turnaround.
This view is reinforced by a 4% rise in cargo tonnage handled at Asian airports in January, a figure Hinayon describes as a bounce back when compared with the region's dismal performance last year. In 1998, Asia-Pacific traffic fell by 3.8%, with passenger numbers down by 5.6% and total aircraft movements down by 4.3%.
Among major Asian airports which suffered falling cargo traffic last year were Hong Kong (down 8.3%), Tokyo Narita (-5.8%) and Seoul (-9.1%), ranked four, five and nine in the world respectively. The drop in passenger traffic was most severe at Seoul, ranked 19 in the world, but down by 20%, although the South Korean hub's January figures show growth in both passengers (7.1%) and freight (10.6%).
The impact of Asia's flu was felt way beyond its own shores last year. North American West Coast gateway airports suffered particularly badly. San Francisco, for example, endured a decline in passenger and cargo traffic.
North America was nevertheless able to maintain growth rates of 2.2% for passengers and 3% for cargo during 1998, impressive figures given the size and maturity of its aviation market. The continent accounted for 46% of passenger traffic, 50% of cargo traffic and 58% of movements recorded by ACI airports, the latter figure being swelled by general aviation operations which, while relegated to minor airports throughout much of Europe, still take place at major US terminals.
European growth figures for 1998 were also impressive, with a near 8% increase in passenger traffic and a 5% rise in movements fuelled by continued expansion in response to recent deregulation and growing demand for air transport. Statistics for the first quarter of this year, although produced according to different criteria, show European passenger traffic continuing to increase by 8% and movements by 5.4%, although Hinayon stresses that the figures do not reflect the problems encountered during the recent realignment of European airspace, and with air traffic control in general. Movements may be up, but the big picture is that those movements are also delayed, she says.
Hinayon says that while the Middle East took some knocks last year, with cargo traffic growth slowing at airports such as Sharjah and Dubai, one area being monitored especially closely in 1999 is Latin America.
The market performed especially well last year, having resisted the after-shocks of the Asian collapse, yet Brazil began a late slide when its currency, the real, came under pressure, and ACI believes this may have been the main factor behind January's 8.4% drop in cargo volume at Miami, the main gateway to Latin America. There are also question marks over privatisations in Mexico, which has so far performed well, and Argentina, where airports have only recently begun supplying figures in the wake of Italian investment.
In terms of individual airports, the headline-grabber in 1998 was Atlanta Hartsfield, which became the world's busiest in terms of passenger traffic, displacing Chicago O'Hare, itself number one for several decades. January figures show Los Angeles pushing O'Hare into third place for the month, although it is not clear whether this will be maintained for the year.
London Heathrow, meanwhile, edged into fourth place in terms of passengers, capping an impressive performance by BAA airports as a whole. The group's seven UK airports had a record total of 112.5 million passengers in the financial year ended March. ACI lists London, with 96.7 million passengers travelling through BAAs Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted in 1998, as the world's largest multi-airport system.
Source: Flight International
