Airports Council International (ACI), the only worldwide association of airports, announced global passenger traffic report for April 2014.
Global passenger traffic grew by 6.7% for the month of April. International travel contributed the overall upward surge in passenger traffic with an increase of 9% for the month. Domestic passenger markets moved up by 4.8%.
While all regions across the board experienced gains in passenger traffic, the Middle East continues to stand out as it propels forward with stellar double-digit growth. Passenger traffic grew by 14.7% in April. Several of the region's airports serve as major connecting hubs—Dubai (DXB), Doha (DOH) and Abu Dhabi (AUH) are among the fastest growing airports in the world, posting gains of 13.7%, 17.5% and 22.5% respectively. On a year-to-date basis, Dubai (DXB) is ranked 3rd in terms of passenger traffic, almost reaching the 25-million-passenger mark within the first four months of 2014.
International passenger traffic was also strong in Europe, with gains of over 9% as compared to the previous year. London-Heathrow (LHR), Paris (CDG) and Istanbul (IST) led traffic for the region in April with growth of 6.4%, 7.9% and 9.9% respectively.
On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, the huge domestic markets of Latin America and the Caribbean continue to burgeon. Sao Paulo (GRU), Mexico (MEX) and Cancun (CUN) saw their domestic traffic increase significantly by 16%, 12.4% and 10.7% respectively.
