Sun, May 16, 2010
1.46 Billion Passengers Move Through Airports; Cargo Declines
11 Percent
According
to recent data released by Airports Council International (ACI),
based in Geneva, nearly 1.46 billion passengers arrived and
departed from North American airports in 2009, a 5.9 percent
decrease from the previous year. Cargo decreased by 11.3 percent
while total operations also decreased by 8 percent.
"The economic downturn that plagued many industries in the past two
years has not spared aviation. Airports, however, are optimistic
about an increase in traffic as the economy begins to show signs of
recovery," said ACI-NA President Greg Principato. "Industry
forecasts indicate that, despite a sluggish recovery, demand for
air travel will grow. There is still a critical need for airports
to invest in infrastructure projects to meet future demand. The
system nearly bogged down three years ago and current traffic is
not far below that level. We know what the breaking point is and we
must not wait to get to work."
The busiest airports kept their positions at the top. Atlanta's
Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport was the busiest with more
than 88 million passengers, followed by Los Angeles International
Airport (56.5 million), and Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport
(56 million).
Memphis International Airport remained the largest cargo airport in
North America, handling about 3.7 million metric tons, which is
unchanged from last year's totals. Anchorage International Airport
ranked second in North America with a 15 percent decrease in its
cargo movements to nearly 2 million metric tons.
Atlanta
continues to top the charts as the airport with the highest number
of total operations in North America with a total of 970,235
movements, a 0.8 percent decrease. Chicago ranked second, posting a
6.1 percent decrease in operations at 827,899 movements. Ranking
third, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport reported 638,782
movements, a decrease of 2.7 percent.
Canada's most robust airport, once again, is Toronto's Lester B.
Pearson International Airport, ranked 19th in North America for
passengers with 30.4 million, a decrease of 6.1 percent from 2008.
It ranked 13 in total cargo with 439,130 metric tons, a 9.1 percent
decrease, and 15 in total movements with 407,352, a decrease of 5.4
percent.
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