Beijing tops world as busiest airport: HK beats all in cargo

CHINA has outdone the world in passenger numbers in 2010, increasing volume 10.3 per cent, with overall global freight volume up 15 per cent, passenger numbers rising 6.3 per cent.


Hong Kong International Airport has overtaken FedEx's hub at Memphis International Airport in air cargo volume at 4.17 million tons, up 23 per cent compared to FedEx of 3.9 million tons with a rise of 5.9 per cent.


Shanghai took the third-busiest cargo airport along with busiest container port boosted by import boom for luxury goods from its growing millionaires and a healthy export growth of 31 per cent.


Korean Air Lines was knocked off its top spot by Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific in 2010 helped by air express carriers' FedEx and UPS opening hubs in the Pearl River Delta region.


In the world's top 20 airports, Beijing moved ahead of Heathrow to take second place, but below Atlanta in passengers at 73.9 million, according to Montreal-based Airports Council International (ACI). It has accelerated up the ACI list from 14th five years previous, a position now shared by Guangzhou and Shanghai.


Its trajectory of double-digit growth is unlikely to let up with air travel expanding at twice the rate of China's economy and projected to grow by 20 per cent per year, London's aerospace analyst Nick Cunningham told Bloomberg.


"We're really only scratching the surface and there's still unsatisfied demand," he said of a growth only hampered by low numbers of trained aircrew and pilots.


The two airports in the top 30 which did not grow in 2010 were Las Vegas, down 2.6 per cent and London Heathrow, off 0.2 per cent.


ACI is the association of the world's airports operating 1,650 airports in 179 countries and territories.
(Source:http://www.schednet.com)