Airports Council
International celebrating the organization’s 25th
Anniversary released the latest edition of the World
Airport Traffic Forecasts (WATF) 2016–2040 at
the opening day of the ACI North America/World Annual
General Assembly, Conference and Exhibition in Montreal,
September 26.
The WATF presents airport traffic
projections at global regional and country levels based
on internationally comparable airport traffic data.
Speaking at the opening, Angela Gittens,
Director General of ACI World had this say about air
cargo, “the weakened global economy and a sluggish
global trade environment were definite deterrents to
growth in air cargo volumes. There also continues to
be a structural substitution effect in the delivery
of goods across modes of transport, even in the face
of strong economic fundamentals. While the shipment
of raw materials and perishables have been affected
the most by a move away from air cargo services to ocean
freight, the modal shift can also be seen in shipments
of high-tech and machinery parts. The largest trade
flow from Asia has experienced the weightiest shift
away from air cargo. Thus, in the short to medium terms,
global air cargo volumes are expected to increase modestly,
in the realm of 2.4% on annualized basis up to 2025.”
The latest figures from Airports Council
International (ACI) said 3.9 percent growth in international
freight during the month of July inspired some optimism
even though the year-to-date figure for both international
and total freight was below 1 percent. International
freight in Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America—the
three largest international air freight markets—grew
5.3 percent, 1 percent and 6.7 percent respectively.
Domestic air freight traffic was much
weaker during the same period: major freight hubs in
North America reported a 5 percent decline, while in
Asia-Pacific domestic air freight grew only by 0.8 percent.
The largest air freight hubs of the
United States, China and Japan reported -0.2 percent,
+4.5 percent and +1.8 percent respectively.
Korea posted impressive growth of
8 percent during the month of July.
Top growth worldwide for July was
Doha (DOH, +20 percent or +24,173 tons), while the following
six uptick in business positions belong to air cargo
hubs in Asia-Pacific, namely Hong Kong (HKG, +4.7 percent
or +17,134 tons), Incheon (ICN, +7.9 percent or + 16,141),
Singapore (SIN, +9.4 percent or +13,900), and Shanghai-Pudong
(PVG, +4.6 percent or +12,203).
For the first seven months of 2016,
ACI said growth rankings go to Doha (DOH), Guangzhou
(CAN), and Singapore (SIN) at +162,491, +60,182, and
+51,800 tons respectively.
Geoffrey Arend |
Vol.
15 No. 72
Vol.
15 No. 73
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