Improvements in business confidence, economic outlook, and global trade have helped revive air freight volumes in the first quarter of 2017, according to the Airports Council International (ACI).
Overall freight volumes increased 8.3% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2017 and 10.9% for March. This increase has coincided with a rise in export orders and inventory buildups in key markets.
For March, Asia-Pacific airports together posted an impressive growth of 13.0%, the region ranking fourth in terms of freight volume expansion during the period. Other regions to log double-digit growth were Africa (+15.6%), the Middle East (+15.5%), and Europe (+13.7%).
North America (+5.9%) and Latin America-Caribbean (+4.7%) also posted robust growth in March.
Meanwhile, passenger demand has also been healthy, added ACI, noting how accumulated passenger traffic grew 5.6% year-over-year in the first quarter and in March.
“An overall strengthening of global economic conditions and the continued drop in the cost of air transport through lower fares has helped bolster air transport demand in the first quarter of 2017,” it said.
While all regions registered solid gains during the first quarter of 2017, Asia-Pacific stood out in terms of overall increase in domestic traffic. The region as a whole saw growth of 8.7% year-over-year for the first quarter of 2017. Air transport demand across Chinese airports remained robust. Besides strong first-quarter gains at Beijing and Shanghai—two of the country’s largest airports—Guangzhou, Chengdu, and Kunming, major airports serving the Chinese domestic market, saw passenger traffic jump 12.2%, 10.5% and 14.5%, respectively. Many Indian airports also experienced double-digit gains in passenger traffic. Delhi, the country’s major hub, saw traffic increase 15.8% for the first quarter of 2017.
European airports continued to maintain a strong recovery on major routes from Asia to Europe despite terrorist attacks in the region during 2016. On the whole, European airports posted a gain of 7.1% during the first quarter of 2017.
Photo: 颐园新居
