The 'ACI Europe Airport Traffic Report includes 235 airports in total representing more than 88 per cent of European air passenger traffic. It is viewed by analysts as a good barometer of the industry’s health as it is the only industry analysis to include all types of airline passenger flights to, from and within Europe: full service, low cost, charter and others.
Latest data from the organisation’s membership shows global passenger traffic grew 7.3 per cent in December 2016 and 5.5 per cent for the year as a whole. All regions except Africa posted growth in passenger volumes for the year, ranging from 2.2 per cent in the recessionary Latin America-Caribbean region to over 9.0 per cent in the buoyant Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions.
With a population of around 30,000 and an economy dominated by financial services, online gambling, shipping and tourism, Gibraltar is currently a major talking point with European aviation regulators, perhaps even more so than the subject of Brexit that dominates the headlines across the continent.
The twin explosions at the airport on March 22, 2016 were shortly followed by another at a metro station in the centre of the Belgian capital and left about 34 dead and 250 wounded. So-called Islamic State (IS) has said it was behind the attacks and warned that more would follow. But, how can and will the industry react?
At EU airports, the average passenger traffic growth was +6.3 per cent (+6.3 per cent also for Q3), while passenger traffic at Non-EU airports reported growth of +5.8 per cent (+6.4 per cent for Q3). Meanwhile, freight traffic at Europe’s airports was essentially flat in September at +0.2 per cent (+0.5 per cent for Q3). Finally, aircraft movements increased by +3.3 per cent (+2.9 per cent for Q3).
The “TAG Athens” project, which is a collaboration between AIA, Singapore Airlines and Aegean Airlines aims to promote Athens Airport as an intermediate point on a traveller’s route by highlighting the connecting opportunities at an “attractive price”.
A recent social media report by ACI Europe shows the ways in which European airports are using mobile devices and applications to increase their services and growing functionality.
