2m passengers go through Nadi airport

A total of 2,231,172 passengers checked in at Fiji's Nadi International Airport in 2011.

And this according to the annual report of Airports Fiji Limited (AFL) is an increase of 11.9 per cent  when compared to the figures of 2010.

International passenger movements increased by 19.4 per cent as a result of an aggressive international marketing campaign promoting Fiji as a tourist destination by key tourist stakeholders.

In contrast, AFL reports the domestic passenger movement declined by 6.3 per cent.

This is largely due to the reduction of domestic aircraft flights.

International aircraft movement increased by 5.0 per cent, while domestic aircraft movement decreased by 16.7 per cent.

The report says passengers forecast for volumes for the 2012 financial year is difficult to predict because of factors beyond AFL’s control.

It includes fuel prices increases, the world financial crisis, and natural disaster, especially those that directly affected their source markets.

But even with these challenges, it is expected that tourism will continue to grow by around 2 per cent.

By Ropate Valemei