Delhi, Mumbai airports see rise in passenger numbers for Aug: ACI

While Delhi clocked a growth of 20.1 per cent in passenger handling, Mumbai saw a 22.4 per cent rise in those numbers, according to the latest Airports Council International (Asia- Pacific) Passenger and Freight Flash Reports.

ACI is the global trade association of the world's airports. The report said that, boosted by the domestic and international summer holiday traffic, Asia-Pacific region registered a year-on-year growth of 10 per cent while Middle East saw a 18.5 per cent rise. Beijing, Tokyo, Dubai, Hong Kong and Jakarta were the top five busiest airports across the two regions in question.

Dubai saw a 23 per cent rise in international passenger traffic for August as it continues to be the fulcrum connecting east and west, it said.

Passenger traffic between January and August this year showed an increase of 6.5 per cent and 11.5 per cent for Asia- Pacific and the Middle East, respectively, as compared to the same period last year.

But the level of air cargo traffic handling in the region almost remained stagnant. "Air cargo traffic continues to be stagnant, 0.5 per cent year-on-year increase at Asia-Pacific airports and 1.3 per cent increase in the Middle East were recorded in August, 2013," the report said.

Despite the slow growth, some airports did handle more cargo than in August, 2012, including Delhi which recorded a 18.5 per cent jump in the area. The top five airports with the highest cargo handling in August 2013 were Hong Kong, Shanghai, Seoul, Dubai and Tokyo.u00a0