Airports in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East showed robust monthly growth in passenger traffic for August despite a downtown in momentum globally.
Airports in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East in August recorded rises of 7.5% and 8.1%, respectively, outstripping average global growth of 3.6%.
The global growth rate in August deteriorated from 5.4% in July, according to the Airports Council International (ACI).
In Asia-Pacific, South Korean airports appear to have recovered fully from the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome outbreak in 2015.
Many airports reported robust growth for the month, led by Seoul Incheon (22.5%), Busan (17.8%), and Jeju (12.3%).
In India, domestic passenger traffic continued to stimulate growth.
Many airports reported growth in excess of 20% in August, with the top runners including Ahmedabad (26.2%), Goa (25.6%) and Hyderabad (25.2%).
In China and Japan, growth in the current month was largely driven by gains in international passenger traffic.
In terms of total passenger traffic, Kunming led growth in China at 11.7% and Naha led in Japan at 11.5%.
Both airports recorded substantial international passenger growth of 21.7%.
In the Middle East, Muscat and Doha were in the lead positions, reporting passenger traffic gains of 18% and 17.4%, respectively, for the month.
For air freight, despite global trade growth remaining sluggish in August, Asia-Pacific and Middle East airports generated increases of 4.5% and 3.5%, respectively.
Top freight hubs in Asia-Pacific delivered solid increases for the month: Hong Kong (3.5%), Shanghai Pudong (2.6%) and Incheon (3.2%). Shenzhen recorded the highest growth in the region at 13.1%.
Results in the Middle East, by contrast, were mixed. Air freight volume at the largest hub, Dubai, shrank 3% for the month while Doha continued expanding at a 20.2% pace.