The Airports Council International Asia-Pacific & Middle East (ACI APAC & MID), the trade group representing over 600 airports across 44 countries and territories, today released its Travel Retail Study in the Post-Pandemic Era, revealing a fundamental shift in airport retail dynamics. The study points out that younger travelers are now driving spend, while passenger behaviour, rather than sheer traffic volumes, has become the defining factor of airport travel retail performance.
Christchurch, New Zealand – 13 April 2026. Christchurch Airport has delivered a stellar summer season, with international visitors surging 22% on last year, firmly cementing its place as the South Island’s key international gateway to the world.
Macau International Airport (MIA) recorded 2,117,427 passenger traffic in the first quarter of 2026, representing a year-on-year increase of approximately 15%; aircraft movements reached 15,952, up 10% year-on-year, reflecting solid performance. In terms of market structure, passengers from the Mainland of China market accounted for 41% in the first quarter, while passengers from China Taiwan accounted for 19% and that from Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia accounted for 40%.
Gold Coast Airport (GCA) is preparing for a strong Easter period, with more than 80,000 passengers expected to travel through the terminal over the long weekend.
Kansai Airports expects that international scheduled flights in the 2026 summer schedule (S26) will average 1,399.8 flights per week, comprising 1,202.8 passenger flights and 197.0 cargo flights. International passenger flights overall are projected to decline by 17% compared with the 2025 summer schedule (S25), mainly due to a sharp drop in services to mainland China (–70% vs S25) resulting from supply constraints.
February 2026 recorded 8.9 million passenger movements across Malaysia Airports’ local airport network, bringing the year-to-date total to 18.3 million passengers for the first two months of the year.
The busy Chinese New Year period saw daily passenger volume at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) surpass 210,000 trips on the peak day of 22 February 2026. In total, HKIA handled 5.42 million passenger trips and 32,100 flight movements in February, representing year-on-year increases of 20.1% and 10.5% respectively. Cargo throughput continued to gain momentum, with cargo volume growing 11.6% year-on-year to 361,000 tonnes during the month.
Kannur International Airport Limited (KIAL) has achieved a significant milestone by recording its highest-ever passenger traffic in a calendar year, handling 1.51 million passengers in CY 2025.
On a 12-month rolling basis, passenger volume rose by 13% year on year to 61.21 million, while flight movements increased by 7.4% to 395,510. Cargo throughput grew by 2.8% to 5.09 million tonnes.
Dubai Airports today announced that Dubai International (DXB) welcomed 95.2 million guests in 2025, up 3.1% year on year, marking the busiest year in the airport’s history and the highest annual international passenger traffic ever recorded by any airport.
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