October 03, 2008 16:43 PM
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 3 (Bernama) -- The Asia-Pacific is recording the fastest growth in air passenger volumes worldwide with Malaysia among the countries in the region gaining from the trend.
According to Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd's managing director Datuk Seri Bashir Ahmad, booming markets like India, China and Macau will make Asia-Pacific the world's largest aviation market in the coming years.
"More passengers are travelling in this region and this has also contributed to Malaysia's tourism market," he said in an interview after attending the four-day Airports Council International (ACI) general assembly and world conference and exhibition which ended in Boston, US, last week.
Bashir, a member of the ACI governing council, said though the current economic difficulties affected airport operators worldwide, those in the Asia-Pacific were still doing better than their counterparts in other regions.
Malaysia Airports, he said, expects to record a growth of 5.5 percent in passenger volume this year, higher than the industry average of 4.2 percent.
He also said that the airports managed by the company recorded good passenger growth in the first seven months of this year and this was expected to slow down in the remaining months.
At the conference, ACI Asia-Pacific president Max Moore-Wilton said Asia-Pacific is expected to overtake North America and Europe to become the world's largest regional market in the next 10 years.
"This is being driven by the growing economies of India and China, and the region will see the development of new high quality airports," he said.
Asia-Pacific, he added, already has five of the world's top 30 airports in terms of international passengers in Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok, Taipei and Kuala Lumpur.
In its forecast report, the ACI said Asia-Pacific will lead the other regions with its passenger volume growing at a rate of 6.3 percent annually over the next 20 years with India and China recording growth of 9.2 percent and 9.1 percent respectively.
The fastest growing routes will be between Asia-Pacific and the Middle East, it added.
In freight operations, Asia-Pacific is expected to post the fastest growth in freight tonnage with 6.6 percent, compared to the industry average of 5.1 percent, annually over the next 20 years, the ACI said.
At the general assembly attended by over 2,000 representatives from the global airport industry, a ceremony was held to recognise Malaysia Airports as the host of next year's ACI general assembly and world conference and exhibition which will be held in Kuala Lumpur from November 2 to 5.
Randall Walker, chairman of ACI North America, the current host, presented to Bashir an antique clock to mark the countdown to the 2009 event.
ACI is an international body that campaigns airport interests and promotes professional excellence in airport management and operators. Its members manage 1,650 airports in 65 countries.
Source: BERNAMA
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