1. Strong international traffic drives February traffic results
GENEVA, 31 March 2010 – Improving traffic results seen in December and January continue into February,
according to ACI PaxFlash and FreightFlash reports. Total global traffic grew +6.8 percent, boosted by a
strong increase of +9 percent in international traffic and domestic growth of +4.8 percent.
Results show consistent growth across all regions, despite the harsh winter conditions in North America and
Europe, and several labour strikes that dampened results in those regions. Continental European hubs were
badly affected by snow and pilot strikes leading to stagnation of international traffic in Paris and Frankfurt
(both +0.1%) and declines in domestic traffic. Winter weather and a series of snow storms also severely
affected domestic traffic in the U.S. (-2.1%) particularly on the East Coast. The D.C. airports reported
declines of -14 percent (IAD) and -18 percent (DCA) while Baltimore lost 12 percent.
International traffic growth of was led by large airports in Hong Kong (+18%), Dubai (+23%), Singapore
(+22%), Bangkok (+24%), Kuala Lumpur (+39%), Istanbul (+19%), Shanghai (+36%), Sao Paolo/GRU
(+28%), Moscow/DME (+36%) and Beijing (+18%). These growth figures are based on international
passengers only.
It is to be kept in mind that figures are compared against February 2009 when international traffic was down
by 12 percent and traffic volumes are still 4 percent from 2008 levels.
ACI World Director Economics Andreas Schimm says, "Obviously, these figures need to be looked at with
caution as the reference month was the worst month in 2009. That being said, the results remain
encouraging. Also, the healthy pattern of international traffic outperforming domestic traffic has returned for
the first time since November 2008. The need and desire for international travel is bouncing back and is
once again set to lead the industry's growth."
2. International freight maintained its exceptional growth rate in February. Massive growth as seen in the
Regional Table 3, on the following pages, was in excess of 20-30 percent across all regions with the
exception of Africa where freight did not collapse as drastically as in other regions so therefore has less of a
spike in comparing with 2009 results.
This phenomenal growth trend reflects the strong degree of pent-up demand and the impact of re-emerging
economies, particularly evident in developing nations, relative to the slump in orders, due to full inventories
at the height of the crisis 12 months ago. Schimm adds, "The remarkable rebound provides evidence of the
global economic recovery and should reinforce business confidence."
TABLE 1: SUMMARY WORLDWIDE TRAFFIC RESULTS, FEBRUARY 2010
(% CHANGE)
FEB 2010 YTD FEB 2009 Rolling 12 months,
over FEB 2009 Over FEB 2008 Through FEB 2010
PaxFlash
International passenger 9.3 7.5 -1.8
Domestic passenger 4.8 5.0 1.2
Total passenger 6.8 6.1 -0.3
FreightFlash
International freight 30.3 32.0 -1.9
Domestic freight 10.2 11.3 1.6
Total freight 22.5 23.8 -1.1
Notes for editors
1. ACI, the only worldwide association of airports, is a non-profit organisation whose prime purpose is to represent the
interests of airports and to promote professional excellence in airport management and operations. ACI has 575
members who operate over 1630 airports in 179 countries and territories.
2. PaxFlash and FreightFlash 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 data submitted by participating airports.
3. Regional results and trend graphics are provided on the following pages.
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3. TABLE 2: PaxFlash Summary – FEBRUARY 2010
YTD FEB YE FEB
Regions FEB 2010 % YOY % YOY % YOY
2010 2010
International Passengers
AFR 4 577 15.0 9 614 14.1 64 483 1.8
ASP 29 037 19.4 59 660 14.8 338 783 2.4
EUR 52 484 4.2 106 504 3.3 834 478 (4.1)
LAC 5 330 6.3 11 320 5.6 58 101 (6.0)
MEA 6 844 20.8 14 130 17.9 85 368 9.7
NAM 7 170 0.9 15 470 0.3 100 360 (4.1)
ACI TOTAL 105 442 9.3 216 698 7.5 1 481 573 (1.8)
Domestic Passengers
AFR 2 537 4.4 5 020 3.8 31 460 (3.8)
ASP 40 751 12.1 82 004 9.9 501 081 8.7
EUR 19 968 3.2 39 431 4.4 276 456 (2.2)
LAC 11 354 15.8 24 215 13.2 141 651 7.8
MEA
NAM 48 071 (2.1) 100 113 (0.0) 703 063 (3.2)
ACI TOTAL 122 681 4.8 250 783 5.0 1 653 711 1.2
Total Passengers
AFR 7 176 10.6 14 761 10.1 96 779 (0.3)
ASP 70 715 14.8 143 687 11.7 852 150 5.9
EUR 72 793 3.9 146 652 3.6 1 115 202 (3.7)
LAC 17 192 12.3 36 687 10.4 205 908 3.2
MEA 7 172 20.2 14 827 17.4 89 378 9.1
NAM 55 298 (1.7) 115 724 (0.1) 804 431 (3.5)
TOTAL 230 347 6.8 472 338 6.1 3 163 850 (0.3)
Traffic table definitions:
PASSENGER TRAFFIC: departing + arriving passengers (000s)
INTERNATIONAL: traffic performed between the designated airport and an airport in another country/territory
DOMESTIC: traffic performed between two airports located in the same country/territory
TOTAL: international + domestic passengers + direct transit passengers counted once (when breakdown is
available)
YOY Year over year same month comparison
YTD Year to date, starting January 2009, compared to same period previous year
YE Year end, based on rolling 12 month period, compared to same prior 12 month period
AFR – Africa EUR – Europe MEA – Middle East
ASP – Asia Pacific (including India) LAC – Latin America and Caribbean NAM – North America
3
4. Month by month comparison with same month previous year
World passenger trends
15
International Domestic Total
10
5
% CHG
0
-5
-10
-15
FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB
2009 2010
Month by month comparison with same month previous year
Total Passenger Regional Trends
25
AFR ASP EUR LAC MEA NAM
20
15
10
5
% CHG
0
-5
-10
-15
-20
FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB
2009 2010
4
5. Month by month comparison with same month previous year
International Passenger Regional Trends
30
AFR ASP EUR LAC MEA NAM
20
10
% CHG
0
-10
-20
-30
FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB
2009 2010
5
6. TABLE 3: FreightFlash Summary – FEBRUARY 2010
YTD FEB YE FEB
Regions FEB 2010 % YOY % YOY % YOY
2010 2010
International Freight
AFR 58.2 13.1 112.6 6.9 661.6 (7.4)
ASP 1 421.5 35.7 2 956.3 41.1 17 839.7 (0.3)
EUR 892.7 24.2 1 744.6 23.6 10 417.5 (4.9)
LAC 132.6 31.1 257.0 30.1 1 501.6 (6.0)
MEA 317.3 31.0 617.0 29.9 3 575.7 8.6
NAM 393.7 28.6 779.7 27.2 4 554.9 (5.9)
ACI TOTAL 3 216.0 30.3 6 467.1 32.0 38 551.1 (1.9)
Domestic Freight
AFR 3.0 23.9 5.4 19.8 32.4 (2.0)
ASP 466.4 14.0 1 017.7 24.3 6 292.8 11.3
EUR 34.5 1.1 66.5 (1.1) 449.9 (9.6)
LAC 60.0 (2.5) 118.3 (5.4) 850.5 (9.1)
MEA
NAM 874.0 9.5 1 776.4 6.6 11 046.4 (1.9)
ACI TOTAL 1 437.8 10.2 2 984.3 11.3 18 672.0 1.6
Total Freight
AFR 65.0 11.4 125.9 6.1 746.6 (7.1)
ASP 1 887.9 29.6 3 974.2 36.4 24 135.5 2.5
EUR 1 089.1 20.3 2 133.5 20.2 12 868.7 (5.4)
LAC 192.7 18.5 375.4 16.4 2 352.6 (7.2)
MEA 317.4 30.9 617.1 29.9 3 577.0 8.6
NAM 1 297.2 14.5 2 612.1 11.7 15 973.4 (3.3)
ACI TOTAL 4 849.3 22.5 9 838.3 23.8 59 653.7 (1.1)
Traffic table definitions:
FREIGHT TRAFFIC: loaded and unloaded freight; data in metric tonnes
INTERNATIONAL: traffic performed between the designated airport and an airport in another country/territory
DOMESTIC: traffic performed between two airports located in the same country/territory
TOTAL: international + domestic freight (when breakdown is available)
Note: No domestic freight traffic is reported by airports in the Middle East region. The July responses for domestic
freight in Africa were insufficient to determine growth percentages.
YOY Year over year same month comparison
YTD Year to date, starting January 2009, compared to same period previous year
YE Year end, based on rolling 12 month period, compared to same prior 12 month period
AFR – Africa EUR – Europe MEA – Middle East
ASP – Asia Pacific (including India) LAC – Latin America and Caribbean NAM – North America
6
7. Month by month comparison with same month previous year
World freight trends
40
International Domestic Total
30
20
10
% CHG
0
-10
-20
-30
FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB
2009 2010
Month by month comparison with same month previous year
Total Freight Regional Trends
50
AFR ASP EUR LAC MEA NAM
40
30
20
% CHG
10
0
-10
-20
-30
FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB
2009 2010
7
8. Month by month comparison with same month previous year
International Freight Regional Trends
60
AFR ASP EUR LAC MEA NAM
50
40
30
20
% CHG
10
0
-10
-20
-30
-40
FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB
2009 2010
- ENDS -
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