Taiwan's air passenger, cargo traffic slipped further in 2008

Sep 17, 2009, 14:57 GMT

Taipei - Taiwan's airport traffic slipped further in 2008, hit hard by global downturn and stiff competition by other international airports in the Asia-Pacific region, the transport ministry said Thursday.

Of 136 major airports in the Asia-Pacific region, Taiwan's Taoyuan International Airport fell to the 18th place in 2008 from 14th the preceding year, with 21.94 million passengers using the airport, a drop of 6.4 per cent from 2007, the ministry said in a study report.

Of the top 10 airports, Japan's Haneda Airport in Tokyo ranked first with 66.75 million passengers, followed by China's Beijing Capital International Airport's 55.94 million and Hong Kong International Airport's 47.86 million.

Thailand's Suvarnabhumi Airport's 38.6 million came to the fourth place, followed by Singapore's Changi International Airport's 37.69 million, and Japan's Narita International Airport's 33.49 million.

China's Guangzhou Baiyun Airport ranked 7th with 33.44 million, followed by Australia's Sydney International Airport's 33.3 million and Indonesia's Jakarta International Airport's 32.17 million.

South Korea's Incheon International Airport was at the 10th place with 30.17 million passengers, the ministry said, citing statistics released by Airports Council International.

The ministry noted that Thailand's Suvarnabhumi, Japan's Narita, and South Korea's Incheon saw decline in the number of passengers by 6.3 per cent, 5.6 per cent and 4 per cent, respectively, last year.

The rest of the top 10 airports saw small growth in their passenger traffic, with China's Guangzhou Baiyun registering the biggest growth at 8 per cent. Guangzhou Baiyun ranked No. 10 in 2007.

In terms of freight traffic in the Asia-Pacific region in 2008, Hong Kong ranked first with 3.66 million tons of cargo, followed by China's Shanghai Pudong International Airport's 2.6 million, South Korea Incheon's 2.42 million and Japan Narita's 2.1 million.