ACI Shows Encouraging Recovery Signs

The Airports Council International (ACI), the voice of the world’s airports, announced statistics for the 10 busiest airports in the world, indicating an important and encouraging recovery.

“The ACI World passenger traffic rankings tell the story of an encouraging trend of recovery, with most of the recurrent busiest airports pre-COVID-19 back at the top. Although we are cautious that recovery could face multiple headwinds, the momentum created by reopening plans by countries could lead to an uptick in travel in the second half of 2022,” said Luiz Felipe de Oliveira, World Director General, ACI via its newsroom.

ACI estimates that total global passengers in 2021 is estimated to close at 4.5 billion, which represents a 50 percent drop in comparison to 2019. However, it shows a 25 percent growth from 2020, with 10 of the busiest airports representing 10 percent of global traffic collectively.            

Cancún (CUN) ranks 10th in the world’s total international passengers per airport after increasing its traffic by 94.5 percent in 2021. The airport is still 19.7 percent behind its pre-pandemic annual international passenger visits. However, the global recovery has proven effective in Cancun’s airport with a vital recovery in 2021 when it recorded 13.2 million passengers.

The airport has taken major strides while climbing on the rankings, jumping from being the 61st airport with the most international passengers per year in 2019 to 28th in 2020. The airport is the only Latin American airport in the top 10.

Air traffic also presented an important recovery in Mexico, recording a 78 percent growth during Jan-Feb. 2022, as the Federal Civil Aviation Agency registered 14.6 million passengers and 128,800 flights in comparison to the same months in 2021. However, cargo business in the country presented a 0.9 percent decrease in the interannual comparison, as reported by MB.

“As such, ACI World continues to advocate to governments to follow the data and ease travel restrictions to safely restore the movement of people, goods, and services. This will provide travelers with more travel options and boost the overall recovery through aviation’s unique role in boosting trade, tourism, investment and creating jobs,” concluded Oliveira.