New Record Set By World’s Airports: 4.4 Billion Passengers Flew in 2006
Travel Blog • Michael Yessis • 07.18.07 | 3:48 PM ET
Who’s responsible for a good chunk of the 4.8 percent increase from 2005? China.
Robert Evans writes in a Reuters story:
Beijing airport saw the biggest rise in passenger traffic, up a whopping 19% from the previous year. Nearly 49 million travellers passed through the airport, making it the world’s ninth busiest, up from 15th place in 2005.
Air industry analysts said the rapid growth was partly due to the Olympic Games, to be held in the Chinese capital next year, and also to mounting demand for international travel among China’s 1.3 billion population.
The numbers come from Geneva-based Airports Council International, which tracks 1,640 airports in 178 countries.
More air traffic, Evans notes, “has alarmed environmentalists, who say aircraft emissions and airport expansion are major contributors to global warming.”
Just environmentalists? It seems a concern seemingly shared by almost everyone.
Related on World Hum:
* China to Become World’s Top Tourism Destination by 2014
* Leo Hickman: In Search of the True Cost of Travel
* Mark Ellingham: Rough Guides and the Ethics of Travel
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Michael Yessis is the cofounder and coeditor-in-chief of World Hum.
