Global cargo traffic increased almost 8 per cent last year, according to statistics released by the Airports Council International (ACI). Combined passenger and cargo movements rose by more than 3 per cent, with a total of more than 52 million aircraft movements. ACI said the Asia-Pacific region reported 10.8 per cent growth in air cargo traffic to 13 million tonnes. Other high-growth areas were Africa with a 15 per cent increase to 524,455 tonnes and the Middle East with 11.9 per cent to 2.11 million tonnes. Europe recorded a 5.9 per cent rise to 10.96 million tonnes and North America 7.5 per cent to 27.88 million tonnes. 'While the passenger and cargo figures during the last three months of 1997 in the Asia-Pacific region showed a marked slowdown, apparently this has yet to have any impact on the rest of the world's traffic,' ACI statistics manager Maria Hinayon said. End-of-year figures for Asia-Pacific still showed notable annual growth, she said. Hong Kong airport handled 1.81 million tonnes of cargo last year, a 14 per cent growth compared with the previous year, which ranked it third of the world's top 30 airports. Memphis was first with growth of 15.5 per cent to 2.23 million tonnes, followed by Los Angeles which handled 1.87 million tonnes, representing an 8.9 per cent increase.
