In October 2018, global passenger traffic, measured on a sample of over one thousand airports, increased by 6.1 percentage points on the same period of 2017, amounting to 5.981 billion passengers. There was growth across all continents, and in particular:
- Europe (which has 32% market share) posted gains of +6.2%;
- Asia (29% market share) posted gains of +7.3%;
- North America (25% market share) posted gains of +5.2%;
- Central/South America (8% market share) posted gains of +4.8%;
- Middle East (4% market share) posted gains of +2.3%;
- Africa (2% market share) posted gains of +10.1%.
In the global rankings, the number-one airport by passenger traffic was Atlanta (89.8 million, consisting of 79.2% domestic traffic), followed by Beijing (84.4 million, consisting of 64.6% domestic traffic), and then by Dubai (74.5 million).
Global air transport (to October 2018)4
Cargo traffic increased 4.2 percentage points on 2017, with 85.6 million tonnes handled (on a sample of 681 airports). Volumes are on the rise in all continents (Asia, the first in terms of goods handled, +3.3%, North America +6.1%, Europe +2.8%, the Middle East +0.4%, Central and South America +8.7%, Africa +11.6%).
Key: AFR (Africa), ASP (Asia Pacific), EUR (Europe), LAC (Latin America), MEA (Middle East), NAM (North America). Source: ACI World (Pax Flash & Freight Flash)
4 Source: ACI World (Pax Flash & Freight Flash)