ME airports ‘need to invest $151bn in capacity expansion’

Airports in the Middle East will need to invest $151b in capacity expansion as the global air passenger demand is expected to increase more than two-fold in 2040, according to the Airport Council International (ACI). “This necessitates an investment totalling $2.4 trillion for Middle East and Asia-Pacific airports until 2040 to accommodate this growth,” ACI said. The Middle East and Asia-Pacific regions are expected to account for 58% of the global air passenger demand in 2040. The ACI forecasts close to 19.7b passengers are expected to traverse the world’s airports by 2040 and the Middle East airports will handle 1.1b passengers by 2040 – a significant increase from 2019’s 405m. The CAPA - Centre for Aviation, one of the world’s most trusted sources of aviation market intelligence, says there have been 425 major construction projects at existing airports, with $450.7 billion in total committed expenditure globally, each of which is at various stages, from preparatory to about to conclude, along with 225 new airport projects and airport investor numbers swelling to 1074, including 258 airport operator groups or consortiums. Its database has region-wise listed the total numbers of the airport project and the volume of investment include 155 in Middle East worth $209.4b.<br/>