INTERNATIONAL. Global passenger traffic rose by a robust +6.2% year-on-year in May, according to Airports Council International (ACI).
The increase is in line with the year to date growth of +6.5%. The main growth driver remained international passenger traffic, which reached +8.1%, the organisation reported.
Europe posted the highest passenger traffic increase at +8.2%, driven by strong international passenger growth of +9% (compared to +6.1% domestic growth). The Russian Federation, Portugal and the Netherlands posted growth rates of +21.3%, +16.8% and +9% respectively.
Asia Pacific delivered the next highest regional increase, at +7.9%. Growth was distributed more evenly between international (+7.7%) and domestic (+7.9%) passenger traffic, ACI said.
In China, both domestic and international passenger travels in May showed strong results likely boosted by vacation travels during national holidays, ACI noted. Shijiazhuang (+28.1%), Tianjin (+24.3%) and Nanjing (+19.7%) continued to expand at a fast pace delivering substantial increase from last year.
In India, while the overall pace of increase in domestic passenger traffic continued to moderate, growth in May rebounded to above +15%, the highest since January.
The Middle East experienced a significant slowdown in May 2017 (+4.1%) compared to the year before period (+11.4%). ACI said the ban on personal electronic devices on flights from Middle Eastern and Northern countries, in place between March and July, may have hindered traffic gains in the affected states.
While pace of growth eased at the three largest hubs: Dubai (+1.9%), Doha (+6.1%) and Abu Dhabi (-2%), significant increases were observed at Madinah (+24.9%) and Muscat (+14.7%).
