ASIA PACIFIC/MIDDLE EAST. Passenger traffic at Middle Eastern airports rose +13% year-on-year in April, and +7.6% in Asia Pacific.
Airports Council International Asia-Pacific (ACI Asia-Pacific) noted that the Southeast Asia region performed strongly, driven by vacation travels during Easter and the recovery of the Malaysian and Indonesian markets (Kuala Lumpur International was +20.2% while Jakarta’s Soekarno–Hatta International was +10.1%).
In China, passenger traffic declined -8% at Beijing Capital International, but this was attributed to the scheduled closure of a runway for maintenance. As a result, nearby Tianjin Binhai International (+23.9%) and Shijiazhuang Zhengding International (+27%) experienced substantial gains.
In India, ACI Asia-Pacific said that while the overall pace of increase in domestic passenger traffic continued to moderate, it was still driving “outstanding growth” in April for a number of small to medium-sized airports. The organisation noted government policy to strengthen regional connectivity. Passenger traffic was up +43.2% at Guwahati International, +30.4% at Kolkata’s Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International, and +23.3% at Goa International.
In the Middle East, passenger traffic grew +9.2% at Dubai International, while a number of other airports also generated a significant increase. Medina Airport was up +25.1%, Beirut–Rafic Hariri International was +29.3%, and Muscat International was +19%. The adverse impact on traffic from the ban on personal electronic devices will likely be seen in the coming months, ACI Asia-Pacific said.
