Global air freight volumes continued their upward momentum in April 2017, while global passenger traffic achieved record levels for the month, according to data from Airports Council International (ACI).
As this developed, Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) also reported continued strong cargo volumes, which saw double-digit growth in May.
ACI said that after a more subdued growth in 2016, global air freight volumes continued to increase in 2017. Overall volumes increased 6% for April and 7.7% on a year-to-date basis.
“Despite the backdrop of uncertainty on global trade and economic integration in the United States and the United Kingdom, two of the world’s largest aviation markets, business confidence remained strong,” the organization observed.
“International trade continued to make gains on the cyclical recovery in the global economy, which translated into robust growth in air freight volumes. The ongoing strength in export orders across several manufacturing sectors for high value goods resulted in continued high growth levels.”
Major freight hubs with significant loaded freight for export saw their overall volumes jump in April. Shanghai, Incheon, and Hong Kong grew 14.1%, 11%, and 8.9%, respectively, for the month year-over-year.
Meanwhile, fuelled by international traffic growth, global passenger traffic achieved record levels in April 2017, increasing 9.3% year-over-year, said ACI. International and domestic passenger traffic rose 14.3% and 5.4%, respectively.
All regions posted robust gains due to stronger baseline economic fundamentals across global markets. Europe in particular rebounded in April following weakened traffic levels in the first half of 2016 resulting from the attack on Brussels Airport. Growth in overall passenger traffic was 14% year-over-year for the region in April. Major airports such as London-Heathrow, Amsterdam, and Frankfurt experienced double-digit growth of 11.3%, 11.3%, and 10%, respectively.
The Asia-Pacific region, home to some of the world’s fastest growing airports, experienced relatively lower growth at 7.6% year-over-year as compared to other regions. Beijing, the region’s busiest airport, experienced a decline in passenger traffic (-8%) in April due to the extended closure of a runway for maintenance. Other airports posted large increases. Kuala Lumpur, Delhi, and Jakarta each saw double-digit growth of 20.2%, 13%, and 10.1% respectively, for the month.
While the Middle East region continued to grow (13%), the adverse effect on traffic of the ban on personal electronic devices may see reductions in the coming months on routes to North America.
Overall, accumulated global passenger traffic increased 6.7% for the first four months of 2017.
HKIA cargo volumes balloon
At Hong Kong International Airport, the strong growth of cargo throughput continued in May, seeing a sharp year-on-year increase of 12.9% to 409,000 tonnes. During the month, passenger volume and flight movements also increased, growing by 2.5% to 6 million and 3% to 35,415, respectively, when compared to the same month last year.
Exports continued to drive strong cargo growth, as outbound shipments recorded a robust year-on-year expansion of 21% in May. Among the key trading regions, Europe and North America increased most significantly.
During the first five months of 2017, cargo volume at HKIA registered 11.3% year-on-year growth to 1.9 million tonnes. Passenger throughput and flight movements rose by 1.5% to 29.8 million and 0.6% to 171,960, respectively.
On a rolling 12-month basis, HKIA handled 71 million passengers, 412,525 flight movements, and 4.71 million tonnes of cargo, recording year-on-year increases of 1.5%, 0.5% and 8.5%, respectively.
