ACI reminds world about economic importance of aviation

ACI World has provided a timely reminder about the importance of aviation to the global economy by revealing that the industry generated close to $180 billion in revenue in 2018.

The significant sum will, of course, be in stark contrast to this year, with the association predicting that airport revenues could fall by up to 50%, due to the impact of coronavirus pandemic.

The economic performance of airports in 2018 was outlined by ACI World today when it published its annual Airport Economics Report and Key Performance Indicators reports, which show the important role that the airport industry plays in fostering global economic prosperity.

The reports include key financial data on developments in the airport business for the financial year 2018.

ACI World insists that they provide a snapshot of a healthy and globally profitable industry before the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic and “serve as an indication of how crucial a fair, balanced, and equitable recovery from the pandemic will be for aviation and the global economy.
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“The COVID-19 outbreak has resulted in an unprecedented and dramatic decline in air travel this year,” says ACI World director general, Angela Gittens. “Airport revenue generation and growth are directly linked to traffic levels and the global airport industry is expected to lose $76 billion in 2020.

“Our Economics Report and KPIs show the immense value a healthy and successful airport industry provides to the global economy and illustrates why assistance and relief is needed for the sector to ensure essential operations and protect millions of jobs.

“Airports are facing difficult prospects right now because a significant proportion of airports’ costs – capital costs in particular – are fixed, leaving less of a cushion during a downturn, especially one of this unprecedented magnitude.

“As a significant portion of airport revenues goes to fund the much-needed capacity development once business as usual operations resume, any decrease in revenue may have a dramatic impact on airport development, and in turn on the airline business.

“This is because aviation is an interdependent and interconnected ecosystem, and, in order to stay afloat, it will require a coordinated and strategic response to overcome the unexpected difficulties and get back on track as soon as possible.”

ACI’s Economics Report found that global industry revenue grew by 4.3% to reach $178.2 billion in 2018, but that revenue per passenger declined by 1.7%.

The distribution of global revenues was:
•Aeronautical revenue: 55.9%
• Non-aeronautical revenue: 39.2%, and
• Non-operating revenue: 4.9%.

Global airport revenue per passenger was $17.95, of which aeronautical revenue accounted for $10.03 and non-aeronautical revenue $7.03 (the remainder is non-operating revenue).

Significantly, says ACI World, total cost per passenger was $13.76, further illustrating the importance of developing sources of non-aeronautical revenue to bolster the revenue collected from aeronautical activities.

Airport revenues grew less than traffic and the decrease in aeronautical and non-aeronautical revenues on a per-passenger basis of 2.3% and 2.2% respectively are reflective of the diverse market forces shaping airport pricing.

Airport charges and capacity constraints require flexible solutions that move away from strict forms of pricing regulation, considering the long-term forecasts for global air service demand still show the potential for growth.

The publications include comprehensive data from a sample of more than 900 commercial airports with in-depth analyses of air transport demand, airport revenues and costs.