African skies are increasingly crowded, says ACI World report

International air traffic, by number of passengers, has increased by 3.6 percent in the first half of 2019, with the most significant increases registered over the African continent, at 7.1 percent, according to the latest report from ACI World, the professional association for the world’s airports.

Air traffic over the African continent exploded by 12.3 percent, by number of passengers on a year-on-year basis, in June alone. Growth was evaluated at 8.3 percent over a one-year period ending in June 2019.

No other region in the world showed such gains. To understand the extent of this dynamic, it’s useful to compare these figures with the global growth rate of air passenger traffic, which is 4.4 percent over one year and 3.6 percent during the first six months of 2019.

The Caribbean and South America come in second in terms of growing air passenger traffic. During the first semester, the number of passengers increased by 5.5 percent and by 5.6 percent over the one-year period ending in June 2019.

In Europe, air traffic growth has been more measured, increasing by 4.3 percent over the first semester, and 5.1 percent for the prior year. The skies over the Asia-Pacific region were not overly crowded either, with increases of 1.9 percent and 3.3 percent over the same periods.

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