Aug. 16--Suvarnabhumi airport was one of the few poor performers in Asia-Pacific for passenger traffic in the first half of this year.
While more than 90% of airports in the region recorded positive growth over the first six months, Suvarnabhumi reported a decline of 12.1%, triggered largely by the political unrest that plagued Bangkok during that period, the Canada-based Airports Council International (ACI) reported.
Separate figures from Airports of Thailand Plc showed a notable drop in Suvarnabhumi's passenger traffic in the aftermath of the military takeover, contracting by 20% between May 20 and July 28.
The ACI said the Middle East continued to lead the region with a robust increase in passenger traffic of 9%, while the rest of Asia-Pacific posted a 5% rise.
Middle East airports, increasingly important as global air hubs, saw Abu Dhabi gain 19.4% year-on-year, with Doha up by 14.5% over the period.
Cargo traffic growth in the region continued to grow, although it slowed in June.
In the first half, the growth figures were 2.5% year-on-year for the Middle East and 5% for the rest of Asia-Pacific.
The top five airports for cargo throughput in the first half were Tokyo Narita (up by 9.8% year-on-year), Shanghai Pudong (7.6%), Hong Kong (6.4%), Seoul Incheon (3.8%) and Dubai (1.8%).
The slowdown in cargo traffic growth in the Middle East was due primarily to a temporary runway closure at Dubai airport.
Copyright 2014 - Bangkok Post, Thailand
