MONTREAL: International air freight increased by 20.5 percent over 2009, according to annual statistics released by the Airports Council International (ACI).
Preliminary traffic results, based on reports from over 900 airports worldwide, indicate that global passenger traffic grew at a better than expected rate of 6.3 percent and cargo rose strongly by 15.2 percent, as compared to 2009.
The recovery was most coherent and comprehensive in the freight sector where all regions showed a robust double-digit increase in tonnage, led by Asia-Pacific (up 18.6 percent) and Europe (up 17 percent).
Hong Kong is now the world’s largest cargo airport, up 23.3 percent from 2009 with 4,168,394 tonnes of cargo loaded and unloaded. Memphis, Tennessee was second with 3,916,937 tonnes, up 5.9 percent from the previous year and Shanghai was third with 3,227,914 tonnes, a 27.1 percent increase over the previous year.
“Passenger and freight growth clearly surpassed global GDP growth in 2010,” said ACI world director general Angela Gittens. “GDP growth projections for this and the coming years are high, creating a positive outlook for demand for air transport. This underpins the need to continue to expand and modernize airport infrastructure to maintain high standards of efficiency and customer service. More than ever, airports will be asked to finance these projects autonomously without public funds requiring private and public airports to be empowered to generate necessary returns on their investment.”
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