Asia Pacific airlines post only moderate growth in February
MANILA, Philippines – The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) reported some moderation of passenger and air cargo demand growth in February 2011.
Airlines based in the Asia Pacific region carried a combined total of 14.7m international passengers in February, 3.5% more than in the same month last year.
International passenger traffic, measured in revenue passenger kilometre (RPK) terms, grew by 2.8%, whereas available seat capacity grew by 6.9%, resulting in a 3% fall in the average international passenger load factor to 79%.
International air cargo demand measured in freight tonne kilometres (FTK) fell by 4.2% in February compared to the same month last year.
Offered freight capacity increased by 1.7%, resulting in a 4% decline in the average international cargo load factor to 69.7%.
AAPA director-general Andrew Herdman said: “Taken together, in the first two months of this year Asia Pacific airlines saw 5.8% growth in international passenger numbers compared to the same period last year, underpinned by continuing solid economic growth across the region.”
“International air cargo demand has stabilized following the very sharp rebound last year, but nevertheless Asian airlines recorded further modest growth of 1.7% in international freight traffic for the first two months of the year.”
Herdman said despite the positive start to the year, the outlook for aviation was already clouded by the sharp rise in oil prices that could undermine the global economic recovery.
Events in Japan have also had a major impact on regional travel and tourism flows. Overall, Japan represents 6.5% of worldwide scheduled air traffic and accounts for around a fifth of traffic within the Asia Pacific region.
In the immediate aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami, airlines responded by quickly restoring normal operations to all of the major Japanese airports, and supporting humanitarian relief efforts to the worst affected areas. (EHL)
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