Passenger Traffic Grows 8 Percent; Cargo Grows by 5 Percent

The Airports Council International-North America tells ANN that that more than 1.46 billion passengers traveled through airports in 2004. Both passenger traffic and cargo grew by 8 percent and 5 percent respectively, while total operations increased 1 percent. The Air Transport Association (ATA) is expecting approximately 200 million passenger enplanements to travel on our nation's airlines (400 million passengers through airports) between Memorial Day through Labor Day, which is a 4.1 percent increase over the same period in 2004.

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport retained the number one worldwide ranking for passenger traffic, counting 83.6 million passengers in 2004, an increase of 5.7 percent over 2003.

Atlanta was followed by Chicago O'Hare International Airport (75.5 million) and Los Angeles International Airport (60.6 million). Memphis International Airport remained the busiest cargo airport in the world, handling over 3.6 million metric tones -- an increase of 4.8 percent over its final 2003 numbers.

Chicago O'Hare remained in the highest position in total operations worldwide with a yearly total of 992,427 movements. Atlanta posted a 5.8 percent increase in operation at 964,858 movements. Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport ranked third with 804,865 operations with an increase of 5.2 percent. Toronto's Lester B. Pearson International Airport was Canada's busiest airport in two of the three categories, ranking 17th in North America for passengers (28.6 million) and 19th in total movements (403,778). The top-ranked Canadian cargo airport was Vancouver International Airport, which ranked 29th in North America (234,015 metric tonnes).

"The aviation system now has to accommodate record numbers of passenger demand and it is more important than ever that we have funding to meet airport and system needs," said ACI-NA president David Z. Plavin. "Unfortunately, the current FAA budget proposal leaves a significant gap in the funding necessary for the entire aviation industry infrastructure. Accordingly, ACI-NA and member airports will work harder than ever this year to get a budget that ensures critical safety and capacity projects are built and passengers receive the level of service they deserve," he added.

The ACI-NA Traffic Report contains passenger, freight/mail and aircraft operations data for 187 North American airport members. Total passengers represent the sum of passengers enplaned and deplaned in all commercial services but not passengers who travel in business or general aviation modes of transportation. Total freight/mail figures represent the sum of the total freight and mail, both loaded and unloaded, at the reporting airport. Total aircraft operations reflect the sum total of all domestic commercial, international commercial, commuter, general aviation and military operations.

FMI: www.aci-na.aero