July 2017: Passengers up 6% and 4% respectively in Asia-Pacific and Middle East

Hong Kong - Passengers traveling through the Asia-Pacific and Middle Eastern airports in July grew by +5.7% and +4.0% respectively compared to the same period last year.

India continued to generate the highest growth rate in the Asia-Pacific region, backed by robust domestic passenger travel, though at a slower pace than last year. The largest airport Delhi (DEL) recorded close to 10% growth in July. Other key passenger traffic drivers for the month include: Calcutta (CCU) +19.1% and Hyderabad (HYD) +16.8%.

In China, growth in July was primarily driven by domestic passenger traffic, but many airports continued to pursue active expansion in international routes. Among the largest hubs in the region, Guangzhou (CAN) +10.5% was the only airport that delivered double digit growth this month.

Other key passenger traffic drivers for the month include: Tianjin (TSN) +30.1%, and Xi'an (XIY) +11.3%.

In South Korea, passenger traffic suffered an overall decline of -1%, likely due to the negative impact caused by the Chinese ban for tour groups to visit South Korea since March 2017. Cheongju (CJJ) and Jeju (CJU) recorded a decline of -19.1% and -7% respectively compared to same month last year.

In the Middle East, passenger traffic showed mixed results. Qatar's diplomatic crisis with a number of neighbouring states continued to negatively impact passenger traffic at Doha (DOH) -14.0% whereas Muscat (MCT) +25.2% and Kuwait (KWI) +24.3% both grew at a fast pace. The largest hub in the region Dubai (DXB) served over 8 million passengers in July (or growth of +5.9%) and surpassed Beijing (PEK) as the busiest airport for the month.

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