Airport traffic picks up in first quarter

Worldwide passenger traffic picked up by 6.1 per cent for the first quarter of the year, but it is still down on peak times.

The Airports Council International reports that traffic was up 7.6 per cent for the month of March, giving a string finish for the quarter.

However ACI director general Angela Gittens warns that, "...traffic volumes in the first quarter 2010 are still below pre-crisis levels. Compared to first quarter 2008 th global passenger numbers are still down by 3 percent...

"Global numbers also hide major differences among the regions. The two largest markets, Europe and North America, remain significantly behind volumes reached in 2007 particularly in the US domestic and the intra-European markets."

The majority of airports in the Asia Pacific region were strong in both international and domestic traffic for the period.

In terms of total traffic the best performers in this region were Shanghai Pudong (up 30 per cent), Incheon (up 22 per cent) and Taipei (up 21 per cent).

International growth was best in Jakarta (up 33.5 per cent), Kuala Lumpur (up 26 per cent), Beijing (up 25 per cent) and Singapore (up 19.5 per cent).

So much for the first quarter of 2010. It will be interesting to see the April numbers, after the chaos resulting from that volcanic eruption.