Preliminary traffic figures for the month of January released today by the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) showed a continuation of steady growth in international passenger traffic, whilst air cargo markets were also relatively firm in the lead up to the Chinese New Year holidays.
Collectively, the region’s airlines carried 21.1 million international passengers in January, 8.7% more than the same month last year, reflecting healthy travel demand linked to the Chinese New Year holiday season. In revenue passenger kilometre (RPK) terms, international passenger traffic grew by 8.1%, reflecting particularly strong regional demand.
Combined with a 7.2% expansion in available seat capacity, the average international passenger load factor edged 0.7 percentage points higher to 79.0% for the month.
International air cargo demand in freight tonne kilometre (FTK) terms registered a 3.9% increase compared to the same month last year, slightly boosted by the earlier timing of the Chinese New Year holidays this year. Offered freight capacity expanded by 5.3%, resulting in a 0.7 percentage point decline in the average international freight load factor to 61.3%.
Commenting on the results, Mr. Andrew Herdman, AAPA Director General said, “The year started on an encouraging note for Asian carriers, with solid increases in passenger numbers maintaining the established growth trend. Nevertheless, Asian carriers face a number of headwinds including recent stock market and currency volatility in emerging markets, and widespread competitive pressures holding down yields. Furthermore, the situation in the air cargo market remains quite difficult, with little evidence of any sustained pickup in demand given sluggish international trade growth, whilst freight rates remain pressured by an overhang of excess freighter capacity.”
