ACI World Report January 2012 - Airports Council International

ACI World Report – January 2012
Announcing the Airports Council International Airport Economics Survey 2011
Continued...
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Aeronautical revenue from passenger and airline user charges accounted for 53.5 percent of industry-wide income, a
similar proportion to 2009. The global airport industry generated USD 54.5 billion in aeronautical revenues in 2010 (including
ground handling). Aeronautical revenue from passenger and airline user charges accounted for 53.5 percent of industrywide
income, a similar proportion to 2009.
Non-aeronautical revenues worldwide made up 46.5 percent of industry revenue in 2010, however this category includes
non-operating income of USD 6.9 billion.
Gittens commented, “Non-aeronautical revenues are a vital component in the economics of airports. During the downturn
the diversification of airport revenues cushioned the impact of lower passenger and freight volumes and safeguarded
operating profits. Non-aeronautical revenues critically determine the financial viability of an airport as they tend to generate
higher profit margins than aeronautical activities, the latter frequently representing a zero sum game or producing a deficit.”
Operating Expenses
Airports worldwide in 2010 incurred operating expenses in the amount of USD 56 billion or 55 percent of revenues.
The largest expense item reported was personnel cost, accounting for 36 percent of operating expenses, followed by
contracted services (outsourcing cost to third parties) as the second biggest cost item at 19 percent of total operating cost.
Capital Expenditure
Capital expenditure at airports worldwide in 2010 was almost a third lower than predicted for 2010, with USD 26 billion
were spent on airport upgrades or expansions of existing airport infrastructure. The markedly reduced capital expenditure
is clearly a consequence of the global financial crisis which led many airports to scrap or cut down on capital programmes.
Also, the crisis entailed tighter credit markets, lower commodity costs and more competitive bids that made financing
harder to obtain or made construction cheaper, both putting pressure on expenditure.
For 2011, capital expenditure is expected to rise by 14 per cent to USD 29 billion.
Capital Costs
In 2010, capital costs industry-wide (including depreciation) amounted to USD 32 billion or 31.5 per cent of total revenue,
a slightly higher proportion than in 2009. 36 per cent of that cost is interest bound while the remainder (64%) constitutes
depreciation.
In 2011 airports worldwide reported liabilities of USD 260 billion slightly less than 2010 partially owing to the reduction in
2010 CAPEX.
Outlook
Financial performance of the global airport industry in 2011 is expected to have continued its growth trend. Passenger
traffic growth will remain above 4% for the year with the more profitable international traffic growing by around 6%.
Looking to 2012 while there is a lot of uncertainty in financial markets as to whether governments will be able to contain
the sovereign debt crisis in Europe, the consumer seems to be rather unfazed. Consumer confidence is resilient and
spending is still growing year on year as the current crisis has not been adding to unemployment yet.
Therefore, the prognosis is that another year of growth lies ahead of the industry. Growth rates may be smaller, especially
in the first half of the year, but overall airports should be in a good spot to grow revenues further. As far as the individual
regions are concerned, the significant spreads in growth rates among the regions will homogenize further as economic
growth in China and Brazil cools and the continuing political uncertainty in North Africa will continue to limit its growth
opportunities. That being said, Asia-Pacific will remain the fastest growing region followed by Latin America, whereas North
America and Europe will be rather muted.