15.03.06
Passengers passing through world and domestic airports last year totalled some 4 billion, 6% up on 2004, the industry body Airports Council International (ACI) said yesterday.
Travellers taking international flights totalled 1.6 billion, a year-on-year increase of 8%, while cargo moved on international routes was up 3% according to preliminary figures, the ACI reported.
The figures showed that the world's top five busiest passenger airports, as in 2004, were Atlanta, Chicago O'Hare, London Heathrow, Tokyo's Hanada and Los Angeles, with increases ranging from 0.8% up to 2.7%.
Beijing, in 14th position, saw an increase of 17.5% in domestic and international passengers - the biggest of the top 30 global airports - for a total of nearly 41 million. This followed a 43% surge in 2004.
For international travellers, a category in which ACI had not previously issued established a separate listing, the top five were London Heathrow with over 61 million travellers, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and Hong Kong.
Nearly 49 million took international flights from or to Paris. Frankfurt handled nearly 45 million, Amsterdam nearly 40 million and Hong Kong just under 40 million, according to ACI.
The world's five busiest cargo airports in 2005 were Memphis, Hong Kong, Anchorage, Tokyo's Narita and Seoul. The biggest increase among the five in cargo throughput was returned by Hong Kong at 10.1%, with Anchorage on 9.7%.
