ACI warns of airport constraints on market growth

ACI warns of airport constraints on market growth    Robert J. Aaronson, director general of Geneva-based Airports Council International, said that his organization expects strong growth in passenger and cargo airline traffic through 2020, provided airports add sufficient capacity.
   Aaronson told the Airfinance Journal/ACI forecasting conference in Vienna Tuesday that ACI’s most recent forecasts show global airport passenger growth at more than 4 percent per year through 2020 to some 7 billion persons, and freight growth of 5.1 percent per year, hitting some 170 million tons in 2020.
   Despite the optimistic forecasts, he stressed that “sufficient airport capacity is a precondition for achieving the forecast growth.”
   Aaronson acknowledged that airport operators spent more on new capacity in 2004 than in any previous year. But he said, “political, regulatory, and environmental hurdles are likely to stifle infrastructure development at many congested hubs.”
   ACI has added to its forecasts a scenario that assumes capacity constraints, showing airport infrastructure limits could slow growth.