Air passenger traffic grew 3.8 percent in 2016 and cargo traffic increased 2.4 percent, according to an Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA) report.
The report, 2016 North American Airport Traffic Summary, was released at this year’s annual conference held this week at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.
The report studied the passenger, freight/mail and aircraft-operations data of 227 North American airports. The total number of passengers was determined from the aggregated total of arriving and departing passengers. Those taking transfer flights were counted once.
Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport is the world’s most traveled airport, the report also revealed.
Cargo is the sum of the total freight and mail while aircraft operations are the total of all commuter, domestic commercial, general aviation international commercial, and military take-offs and landings
“This growth highlights the need for airports to continue to modernize their infrastructure in order to accommodate expanding passenger and cargo activity to ensure a modern and competitive 21st-century airport system,” ACI-NA President and CEO Kevin M. Burke said. “As traffic volume increases, airports are forced to do more with less, which hurts every airports’ ability to serve their passengers and communities. We must move quickly to address these challenges, especially as the industry prepares for continued traffic growth in the years ahead.”