WILLEMSTAD–During
the fi rst half year of 2010,
the declining trend in Curaçao’s
air traffi c continued
in comparison with the
same period of the previous
year.
The total number of arrivals
and departures during
the fi rst six months of 2010
at Hato Airport amounted
to 658,966, of which 482,749
were international travellers
and 115,222 local passengers,
while the transit
traffi c amounted to 60,995.
From these fi gures, it appears
there was a decrease
of 49,237 passengers or 6.9
per cent, as 708,203 travellers
were registered during
the same period last year.
The number of transit passengers
at Hato did show
an increase of 15.9 per cent
compared to 2009.
Curaçao Airport Partners
(CAP) is of the opinion that
these developments can be
attributed to waves of recession
elsewhere that will
only affect Curaçao later
on. It could furthermore be
an indication that 2008 was
a peak year and that the air
traffi c gradually returned to
the normal number in 2009
and 2010.
The month of June showed
a decrease in passengers by
13,026, which is 11.36 per
cent compared to 2009,
when there were 6,918 arriving,
4,951 departing and
1,157 transit passengers.
This year’s month of June
registered 45,397 arriving,
48,854 departing and 7,397
transit passengers.
A number of matters struck
CAP when it compared this
year’s fi gures with those
of 2009. There was an increase
of 38.9 per cent in
arriving or transit travellers
from the United States and
27.5 per cent from South
America, but the latter percentage
does not include
Venezuelan travellers.
A decline of 16.4 per cent
was observed of arriving/
transit passengers from the
Caribbean area in comparison
with the same period
last year. A 55.8 per cent
decrease was registered for
Venezuelan travellers.
The numbers regarding
departures showed similar
trends as the number of
arriving and transit passengers.
CAP states that
Curaçao was mentioned
during the last meeting of
the Latin American & Caribbean
Air Transportation
Association (ALTA), with
the largest air traffi c growth
measured over the past ten
years.
In this regard, Curaçao
showed a 30 per cent
growth, followed by Aruba
with 20 per cent. During
aforementioned conference,
Curaçao was mentioned
as the sixth airport
regarding newly planned
fl ights in the year 2009.
Source: The Daily Herald