ANNUAL REPORT ‘12
2013 OUTLOOK
146
In spite of the performance of emerging economies,
these will also feel the effects of the economic down-
turn in Europe and in the USA, their export destination
markets, a repetition of previous years’ experience.
The euro zone will continue to be the problem-region
in 2013, where the recession will reverse itself but not
go away. The IMF projects that the euro zone will return
to growth in 2014, possibly around 1%.
The current focus on short-term fiscal consolidation,
especially among developed countries, has proven to
be counterproductive, delaying the correction of
deficits and sovereign debt. In this sense, we can
expect one of the political priorities will be to foster
economic growth and boost employment, a position
already publicly manifested by the IMF itself and the
European Commission.
For Portugal, still under the bailout programme of the
European Union, European Central Bank and Interna-
tional Monetary Fund, the various projections point to
a continued recession and a retraction of the economy
by almost 2% of the national GDP.
Along with the economic environment, there are other
factors that greatly affect the performance of the air
transportation industry: the price of fuel, the taxes that
some countries have imposed on air travellers and the
increase in fares to accommodate the added costs of
the carbon emissions trade.
In spite of the IATA projections, which point to a growth
in global air passenger traffic of around 4.5%, the
adverse external environment and the high levels of
uncertainty demand increased reflection and suggest
the wisdom of making conservative projections for
traffic.
From that perspective, the Group’s Operational Plan
estimates there will be around 31 million passengers
at its airports, a growth of 1.6% over 2012. The move-
ment of aircraft should surpass 292 thousand and
cargo around 138 thousand tonnes, the rates of
growth being 1.2% and 0.6%, respectively.
The projected growth in traffic at Lisbon airport
in 2013 (1.5% in passengers and 1.4% in aircraft
movements) is negatively influenced by the economic
situations in Portugal and Spain, but it will benefit from
the projected growth in the Brazilian and Angolan
markets.
A 2.4% growth in commercial passengers is projected
at Porto airport, which should reach the 6.2 million
mark in 2013. The number of movements should
increase by 1.3%. This predicted trend in traffic is a
result of the investment made in the French, Swiss and
German markets. When taken together, they represent
around 50% of the airport’s traffic.
Faro airport’s traffic profile is overwhelmingly tourist in
nature (93% of the inbound traffic), and the low-cost
airline share is currently over 70% of traffic. The airport
will continue to invest in the diversification of tourism
source markets, minimizing its dependency on the
United Kingdom. The outlook for the coming year
points to a 0.9% growth in passengers.
For Azores airports overall, the forecasted growth
will be approximately 1.1% in passengers and 0.6%
in movements.
Approximately 3,700 passengers are expected at the
civilian terminal of Beja in 2013. This is a cautious
projection; the difficulties involved in new operations
are well known.
Traffic at Madeira airports is projected to reverse its
negative performance. The expectation is that the
Schengen markets will consolidate and that the British
market, which dropped sharply over the last year, will
begin to make a solid recovery, as the figures from
November and December 2012 already indicate.
