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.
More News
Aero Linx: International Business Aviation Council Ltd IBAC promotes the growth of business aviation, benefiting all sectors of the industry and all regions of the world. As a non->[...]
"During the annual inspection of the B-24 “Diamond Lil” this off-season, we made the determination that 'Lil' needs some new feathers. Due to weathering, the cloth-cove>[...]
Also: Bushcat Woes, Hummingbird 300 SL 4-Seat Heli Kit, Carbon Cub UL The newest Junkers is a faithful recreation that mates a 7-cylinder Verner radial engine to the airframe offer>[...]
Also: Seaplane Pilots Association, Rotax 916’s First Year, Gene Conrad After a decade and a half of struggling with the FAA and other aero-politics, G100UL is in production a>[...]
Also: Martha King Scholarship, Montaer Grows, Textron Updates Pistons, FlySto The FAA is hiring thousands of air traffic controllers, but the window to apply will only be open for >[...]