Seoul Incheon might not be the biggest Asian airport, but with annual growth triple the size of Beijing Airport’s in 2012, it is one to keep an eye on. American Airlines’ new service from Dallas/Fort Worth, launched last week, only confirms the airport’s appeal for international traffic, which accounts for 98% of all traffic at the airport.
Home to Sweden’s #4 charter airport, Norrköping was once the country’s fourth largest city too, thanks to the textile mills (now converted to trendy apartments) that forged its industrial heritage. anna.aero investigates how the city, and the airport serving it, are reinventing themselves after some tough years.
Gunning for Montreal: Currently sat just 150,000 annual passengers behind Montréal’s Pierre-Elliot Trudeau Airport, and growing faster, Calgary Airport has the chance of stampeding past its Quebec cousin by the end of 2013. In doing so, it will sit only behind Vancouver and Toronto at Canada’s top table of airports.
Growth seems to be returning to Sapporo Chitose Airport again, with anna.aero 2013 estimates of close to 18 million annual passengers anticipated at the airport serving the fourth largest city in Japan. Sounds like a reason to celebrate with a local beer!
North Carolina’s Charlotte Douglas Airport is now among the 10 busiest in the US, thanks to US Airways’ continued growth. Traffic has grown by 80% in the last decade and Southwest Airlines has this week replaced AirTran Airways at the airport. Average domestic return fares of $401 currently make it among the more expensive of America’s major airports.
Serving the capital of the French island of Corsica, Ajaccio Napolean Bonaparte Airport, is the largest of the four international airports on the Mediterranean island. While the airport is showing steady growth, its extreme seasonality represents an annual challenge to the management.
Since 2008, when anna.aero last analysed Minneapolis/St Paul, the airport has witnessed the emergence of Delta Air Lines as the dominant carrier following its merger with Northwest Airlines. While the arrival of Southwest Airlines in 2009 and Spirit Airlines last year improved the offering, the low-cost influence at the airport remains limited, resulting some of the highest airfares is the country.
Nigeria’s civil aviation faces on-going challenges. Passenger numbers grew rapidly between 2006 and 2011, but safety issues and the demise of Air Nigeria have brought growth to a halt. Internationally, Etihad Airways is the most recent carrier to launch inter-continental services to Africa’s fourth busiest airport.
As Croatia readies up for accession to the European Union, all of the country’s airports expect a busy summer. But as half of Pula Airport’s traffic concentrates in two months only, it needs to work harder on attracting year-round services.
Largely sheltered from economic volatility by a flourishing oil industry in the area, Stavanger Airport fares better than most European airports. As the airport welcomes Wizz Air’s new service from Szczecin, anna.aero investigates its operation.
Situated on the coastline world famous for its waves, Gold Coast Airport has been challenged by traffic seasonality over the years. However, new long-haul services and competition between the airport’s two main carriers could see the airport break 6m annual passengers this year.
