São Paulo – A report published on Friday (4th) by the Airports Council International (ACI), an association that brings together airport operators worldwide, shows that global cargo air traffic rose 1.3% last October when compared to the same month last year, with 1.4% growth in international freight and 2.2% in domestic freight.
According to the organisation, this is the first time that all three categories register positive monthly performance since July 2008. In the accumulated result for 2009, however, the total air cargo flow dropped 12% in comparison with the period from January to October last year, with reduction of 15% in international traffic and 6% in domestic traffic.
The director general at ACI, Angela Gittens, said, in a press statement, that the return to cargo growth reflects what had already been taking place in passenger transportation. Aviation suffered with the lower throughput after the worsening of the international financial crisis in the second half of 2008.
Gittens warned, however, that care is still necessary, as even if growth remains in November and December, it is expected that the year should end with reduction of around 10% in cargo throughput when compared to 2008.
In passenger transportation, according to the ACI, there was 1.8% growth in passenger movement in October, with 3.5% growth in domestic traffic and 0.2% reduction in the international flow.
The organisation believes that the figures were influenced by a better performance in Europe and North America, markets considered mature and that were hit hard by the crisis, by great growth in domestic traffic in Latin America and the Caribbean (26%) and by a positive performance in Asia and the Middle East.
Among the airports that registered the highest growth in the domestic transport flow were Guarulhos, in São Paulo, with 37% growth in October 2009 when compared to the same period in 2008. In the international area, Dubai International Airport, in the United Arab Emirates, is among the highlights, with 12.2% growth in the same comparison.
*Translated by Mark Ament
