A record 4 billion passengers took to the skies in 2005, up 5.5 percent on the previous year despite higher fuel costs and concerns over terrorism and bird flu, the main airport operators' association said.
International passenger traffic jumped 6.7 percent, while domestic traffic grew 4.4 percent from 2004, the Airports Council International (ACI) said.
The previous record of 3.9 billion passengers was set in 2004, a spokeswoman said on Thursday.
This steady growth indicates that concerns for the threat of avian flu, terrorism and higher fuel costs did not dampen passenger demand excessively, although we did experience a slowing growth trend in the last quarter," said ACI director of economics, Paul Behnke.
Low-cost carrier traffic had helped maintain steady industry growth despite the stubbornly high cost of fuel, he added.
World freight traffic, a prime indicator of the health of world trade, posted a modest three percent gain in 2005 over the previous year, according to the Geneva-based group whose members operate some 1,600 airports.
Fuel costs had taken a toll on the air transport industry, particularly in the domestic markets, where some traffic has been diverted to rail and truck, according to Behnke.
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