Global passenger traffic reached approximately 4.7 billion in the first six months of 2026, a 0.6% increase over the same period a year earlier, according to the Airports Council International (ACI) Annual World Airport Traffic Report published on September 23, 2026.

The mid-year figure represents what ACI described as a "marked slowdown from 2025's pace," when airports worldwide handled a record 9.8 billion passengers across 2,817 commercial airports in more than 185 countries and territories.

Where is the slowdown hitting hardest?

The Middle East absorbed the steepest decline in the first half, with traffic falling 21% on the back of the US–Iran–Israel conflict. North America stayed flat. Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Asia-Pacific each continued to expand.

ACI's reporting separates the H1 2026 weakness from the longer-term record it documents for 2025. That calendar year showed international passenger traffic up 6.1% and domestic traffic up 1.7%, with international flows comfortably outpacing domestic recovery.

How did 2025's growth split across regions?

Africa led all regions in 2025 with a 9.0% rise in passenger traffic. The Middle East grew 6.5%, Asia-Pacific 5.1%, Latin America and the Caribbean 4.5%, and Europe 4.2%. North America was the negative outlier, down 0.7% as softer domestic demand offset limited international gains.

The H1 2026 collapse in Middle East volumes, the data shows, inverts a region that still posted the second-fastest 2025 growth.

What else did airports move in 2025?

Air cargo handled by ACI's reporting airports reached a record 131.2 million metric tons over 2025. Aircraft movements across the network climbed to 103.1 million takeoffs and landings, underscoring the infrastructure throughput that trade and passenger traffic now require.

The cargo and movements data matter for the near-term outlook because they frame the capacity debate ACI's Director General put at the center of his statement on the report.

What is ACI telling policymakers to do?

"The 2025 results confirm what this industry has shown year after year: long-term demand for air travel remains strong, and more capacity will be needed," Justin Erbacci, ACI World's Director General, said. "Meeting that demand means expanding capacity while getting far more out of the infrastructure we already have."

Erbacci added that airports need regulation "that enables investment rather than blocking it" and framed facilities as "strategic assets for their communities."

ACI's own framing in the report argues that the H1 2026 softness reflects near-term volatility rather than structural weakness. "The long-run drivers of aviation demand, i.e. rising populations, growing incomes, expanding connectivity and an enduring appetite for mobility remain firmly intact," the organization stated.

What does the H1 read mean for the full year?

A 0.6% half-year gain, layered on the Middle East's 21% contraction and flat North American volumes, sets up a calendar 2026 unlikely to match 2025's record 9.8 billion passengers. Airlines and lessors watching capacity deployment for the second half will need to track whether Asia-Pacific, Africa and Latin America can absorb traffic diverted from Middle Eastern hubs.

The 2025 results, with Africa at 9.0% and the broader international cohort at 6.1%, give ACI a baseline against which to measure whether the H1 2026 slowdown resolves into a temporary conflict-driven blip or persists into the second-half reporting cycle.