Airports Council International reports that global traffic in June 2009 was down by 5 percent compared to June 2008. Although markedly lower than June 2008, this is a clear improvement over the 8 percent slump recorded in May. Similarly for freight results, traffic was down worldwide by 13.5 percent. Although still starkly lower than June 2008, the gap with the previous year’s growth has narrowed when compared to performance over the first six months, which was down on average by 18.8 percent. Asia Pacific airports report positive domestic freight traffic growth (+3.6%) and Middle Eastern airports led in the international results category (+1.9%).
 
First semester results
Overall results for the first 6 months of 2009 remain well below results for the same quarters in 2008 – when air travel and cargo services were climbing. But at the same time, airports see the declining passenger growth curve is softening. Even the sharp decline in freight traffic is stabilising, as the charts at the end of this release illustrate.
 
ACI Director Economics Andreas Schimm comments, “In all six regions, the worldwide traffic growth percentages in June areless negative than the results for the first half of the year, which is a positive sign of improvement and a possible indicator that the beginnings of a more durable turn-around are in the making.
 
“But persistent negative factors, including on-going economic uncertainty, tight financial markets, concerns about a global health threat, and geopolitical disruption in some nations, are likely to restrain the prospects of a rapid rebound. In May, airports saw how quickly the H1N1 virus undercut demand with lingering effects in June, and as always the industry remains vigilant yet vulnerable when it comes to external factors that impact our business. As a result, it is unlikely that we will recover the flat growth rate before the fourth quarter of the year.”

The Latin America-Caribbean market has been the hardest hit by the H1N1 virus, with international traffic down -14.9% for June. The drop in Mexico’s traffic pulled down the overall regional rate for the first half of the year (-10.6%), negating robust growth registered at airports across Brazil in June. The fear of the virus’ spread was also a determining factor in poor international traffic results in the Asia Pacific markets (-11.7%) and in North America (-8.7%).
 
On the positive side, Middle East international traffic rose by 4 percent for the semester, with the added boost of strong performance in June (+6.8%). Largest first semester growth was reported by Beirut (+29%), which is seeing a revival of tourism and trade boosting its economy, and international traffic growth was led by Abu Dhabi, Muscat, Beirut, Dubai, Kuwait, and Sharjah.
 
Although down markedly on international, Asia Pacific domestic traffic rose by a solid 3.9% for the first six months, profiting from a strong domestic increase of 7.2 percent in June. Of the 21 airports that grew more than 5 percent in the first half of the year, nine are in China, and they report growth mainly in domestic traffic.
 
Mixed results in June
Results for the month of June remain mixed. Overall, there were few bright spots and without strong growth in China, the picture would look far less positive. International traffic growth lags behind, which could be a worrying sign for the key travel months July and August. 
 
All large airports in the Middle East grew with exception of Tel Aviv and Bahrain. In North America only one US airport, Charlotte, reported positive growth in June (+0.2%), and domestic traffic was down by 6.1 percent. In Europe (-9% domestic; -7% international), all airports remain negative except for Stockholm (rise in domestic), Zurich and Rome (also domestic). In addition to China in the Asia Pacific region, Jakarta and Manila had very strong results, again driven by domestic demand; in contrast both Hong Kong and Japan report severe drops linked to the H1N1 virus.  In Africa, key tourism markets (South Africa and Egypt) showed significant improvement relative to the year-to-date results.
 
The negative freight trend seen since early this year continues to ease, both in domestic and international results, but overall relative to June 2008 is still down by 15 percent. The busiest freight hub Memphis grew by 2.2 percent in June, but ten key international freight locations remain depressed (Hong Kong, Shanghai, Incheon, Tokyo, Dubai, Frankfurt, Singapore, Taipei, London and Amsterdam).