Air passenger growth continued to moderate in December 2018, while the air freight market declined, Airports Council International (ACI) World has found.
Global passenger traffic grew by 4.8% last December year-over-year, but this figure is below the preliminary year-end result of 5.9%, continuing a moderation trend started in the latter half of 2018.
In the global air freight market, year-over-year volumes fell 1.5% from December 2017, which meant the year-end growth figure for 2018 was 3.3%.
“While global passenger traffic growth has moderated and is not of the same magnitude as in 2017, it has remained fairly robust overall for most of 2018,” ACI world director general Angela Gittens said.
As for the decline in freight, Gittens said this needs “to be examined in the context of the increasing geopolitical instability and ongoing protectionism that has affected global traffic and trade.”
The international passenger market continued to outperform its domestic counterpart in December, posting 6.3% growth year-over-year, while the domestic segment showed higher volatility with 3.8% in year-over-year growth.
In the major regional markets, Europe’s success continued, posting 6.3% growth for the month. The region’s growth was mainly fueled by the strength of its international segment, which grew 7.6% in December. Its domestic market stood at more moderate levels, with 3.1%.
North America and Asia-Pacific posted comparable growth rates, at 3.9% and 3.8%, respectively, year-over-year. Here again, international passengers fueled the major part of industry growth in both regions, said ACI.
Africa posted the highest growth rate of all regions in December, with 9.8%. Latin America-Caribbean followed with a 6.3% increase, the only region having benefited from an upsurge during the month. The Middle East, still experiencing the effects of multiple geopolitical challenges, grew by 2% in December.
On the other hand, nearly all regions posted declines in freight volumes in December, bringing year-over-year growth to -1.5% during the month. Again, Africa bucked the trend, growing by 18.7% for the period.
No segment posted robust results, with the international market losing 1.7% and the domestic market 1%.
In line with the importance of domestic freight in its market, North America weathered the storm better than Europe and Asia-Pacific. The former declined by 1.2% in December, against losses of 2.5% for the two other regions.
Latin America-Caribbean and the Middle East declined by 0.8% and 0.9%, respectively. Though this marked a continuation of a challenging trend for the Middle East in 2018, it was a major shift for the former.
Looking ahead, Gittens said, “Industry performance in 2019 remains very uncertain as trade wars persist, the United Kingdom continues to work to exit the European Union, and relationships in key markets in the Middle East and China threaten to cast a pall on the global outlook.”
Photo: Mihal Orela
