Airports Council International has just released its annual Airport Economics Survey for 2004…
Airports Council International has just released its annual Airport Economics Survey for 2004. The 2004 Survey attracted the largest sample in the 8 years since ACI began collecting economic data: 665 airports which represent over 70 percent of global traffic responded. Commenting on the results, Robert J. Aaronson, Director General of ACI, noted: Airports, like their industry partners, have suffered financially over the past 4 years, with a steep drop in operating surpluses and profits over the period. But the most notable statistic in the Survey is that capital expenditure for new infrastructure was at an all-time high in 2004. This demonstrates the optimism of our members about continuing growth in passenger and shipper demand. The world`s airports are committed to planning for the long-term.
The Survey`s most important conclusions are as follows:
- Time series data on the top 100 airports provided for the Survey by Airline Business for the past 4 years shows a steady decline in aggregate global operating margins from 27.9% in 2001 to 19.3% in 2004 (data through mid-year). Net profits fell from 14.5% to 6.8% in the same period
- Despite the decline in earnings, airport operators spent over US$ 31 billion in capital expenditure in 2004, the highest figure ever recorded. (And this figure excludes expenditure on new airports)
- Data for the first 10 months of 2004 shows passenger traffic up over 10 percent over the previous year. Clearly, the industry is poised for recovery
- Airports continue to be catalysts for job creation. Some 4.4 million people worked on or near airport properties in 2004
The Survey, which includes annexes on trends in airport privatization authored by the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation and a compendium of airport cross-ownership compiled by Momberger Airport Information, is available from the ACI publications department.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
