On August 22, 2005, Airports Council International (ACI)'s world office in Geneva released its traffic forecasts for 2005-2020.

ACI forecasts 7.4 billion air passengers in 2020, nearly double today's worldwide numbers, and that passenger traffic will grow by over 4% per year through 2020 and airfreight tonnage will increase by 5.4% per year. These world forecasts are based on data collected in early 2005 from 273 ACI member airports, which represent 60% of global passenger traffic.

The ACI Geneva analysis shows that without adequate airport expansion, by 2020 the capacity of airport infrastructure could be surpassed by about 1 billion passengers, resulting in heavy congestion and a general deterioration in the quality of service at airports. ACI indicates the urgency with which governments must create a regulatory framework that creates commercial incentives for accelerated construction of new airport and air traffic control infrastructure.

These worldwide forecasts provide a global context for ACI-NA's recent 2005 Capital Needs Survey, which demonstrates an urgent need for infrastructure investment at North American airports in the coming years.

FMI: www.aci-na.aero