Preliminary passenger traffic results for 2014 showed continued moderate growth from last year in Asia-Pacific airports at +5.9%.

Preliminary passenger traffic results for 2014 released by ACI Asia-Pacific showed continued moderate growth from last year in Asia-Pacific airports at +5.9% whereas the Middle East airports continued the strong growth at +9.4%.

Majority of the leading airports in the region reported positive results in passenger traffic in 2014.

Beijing (PEK), the busiest airport in the region, handled 86 million passengers but year-on-year growth slowed down slightly to +2.9% due to capacity constraints.Dubai (DXB), now the world’s busiest international airport, reported +6.1% increase in passenger traffic despite a temporary runway closure in mid-2014.

Among the busiest airports in the Asia-Pacific, Shanghai Pudong (PVG) +9.5% and Incheon (ICN) +9.6% both reported close to 10% increase in 2014.

Other airports reporting aggregate growth in excess of 20% include: Bangkok Don Muang (DMK) +30.8%, Abu Dhabi (AUH) +20.2%, Chiang Mai (CNX) +21.4.

Air freight traffic in the Asia-Pacific concluded the year maintaining a steady growth rate at +5.7% from last year. Among the leading cargo airports in the region, Tokyo Haneda(HND) reported double digit growth at +14.7% from last year.

The Middle East continued the strong performance at +11.8% with several airports reporting double digit growth year over year: Dubai (aggregated DXB & DWC1) +17.8%, Doha (DOH) +13.2% and Abu Dhabi (AUH) +12.8%.

TABLE 1: Airports reporting the highest traffic volume for the year in 2014 (with respective growth rate from last year) according to preliminary traffic data.

Note :

1. The shift of all pure cargo flights from DXB to DWC was completed during 2014. Hence, for the purpose of this press release, the air freight traffic for DXB and DWC was calculated in aggregate to reflect the overall growth rate for Dubai in 2014.

2. ACI PaxFlash and FreightFlash statistics are based on a significant sample of airports that provide regular monthly reports to ACI. They represent approximately 60% of total passenger traffic and 70% of total freight traffic worldwide. Commentary, tables and charts are based on preliminary data submitted by participating airports and are therefore subject to change.