ACI numbers add to recovery perception

Despite the new wave of pessimism washing through the world markets, the numbers coming from the airline industry are still heading in the right direction.

The December report from Airports Council International, released late last week, said that global airport passenger traffic was up 5.3 per cent on December 2008.

And that was a rise in both international (up 5.6 per cent) and domestic traffic (up 5.2 per cent).

All areas were up except for North America which was about the same. But Asia Pacific was the star, with international traffic up 15.7 per cent and domestic up 14 per cent. And the key drivers behind that performance were India and China.

Best performing airports for the full year were Dubai, which climbed 9.6 per cent and Kuala Lumpur, which was up 8.8 per cent.

The two traditionally dominant markets, Europe and North America, each saw a slump in traffic of around five per cent for 2009.

ACI World Director of Economics Andreas Schimm said that, “Looking at full year 2009, global traffic results were much better than expected earlier in the year, finishing at just 2.6 percent below 2008.

“Fears that third quarter traffic would decline substantially did not materialize, and the stabilization seen provided a platform for remarkable fourth quarter growth.

“Even taking into account falling global traffic demand in late 2008 and the impact on Asia Pacific results in 2008 of the closure of the Bangkok airport due to a political siege, which slightly inflate the percentage growth comparison, passenger and freight results are very promising. ”

This is just one of several strong indicators of a strong start to 2010. We need to hope that the talk of a stall in the recovery is off target.