Asia Pacific Airlines Carried 27 Million Int.
Passengers in February; Cargo Demand Up 10.2%
(28/03/24)
Preliminary February 2024 traffic figures from the Association
of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) show strong growth in both
international air passenger and air cargo demand.
Passenger markets were boosted by a surge in
leisure travel during the Lunar New Year festive period, while air
cargo demand grew as a result of business and e-commerce activity.
In aggregate, 27 million international passengers
were carried by Asia Pacific airlines in February, a 56.7%
increase on the 17.3 million recorded in the same month last year,
and 89.2% of the number in February 2019.
In revenue
passenger kilometres (RPK) terms, demand rose by 54.4%
year-on-year, reflecting relative strength of regional routes.
Available seat capacity expanded by 53.1%, leading to a marginal
0.7 percentage point increase in the average international
passenger load factor to 81.6% for the month.
“During the first two months of the year,
Asian carriers saw continued robust growth in international
passenger markets, with 54 million passengers carried, an increase
of 53% compared with the corresponding period in the previous
year,” said Subhas Menon, AAPA Director General. “The strong demand came on the back of ongoing network
expansion by carriers, with load factors at levels seen before the
pandemic.”
With inflation levels moderating, rising demand
spurred renewed vigour in the global manufacturing sector,
supporting further growth in air cargo markets.
As a result,
international air cargo demand, as measured in freight tonne
kilometres (FTK), increased by 10.2% year-on-year in February 2024.
Offered freight capacity expanded by a robust 20.8%, primarily
from growth in belly-hold space, and consequently the average
international freight load factor fell by 5.5 percentage points to
57.3% for the month.
“January and February saw a 16% increase in
international air cargo demand, progressing the recovery recorded
since the last quarter of 2023,” said Mr. Menon. “ Healthy growth in e-commerce
transactions fuelled a rise in demand for speedier air transport.
Additionally, there were also indications of a modal shift from
sea to air due to the Red Sea crisis.”
Looking ahead, Mr. Menon said, “The upturn in
global economic activity and rise in business confidence levels
augurs well for air cargo markets in the coming months.
Correspondingly, the demand outlook for international travel is
positive based on forward booking trends. The region’s carriers
remain nimble and proactive in exploring new avenues of growth,
whilst at the same time tackling numerous challenges including
rising operational costs and stiff competition.”
Published on Travel News Asia at: https://www.travelnewsasia.com/news24/283-AsiaPacificAirlines.shtml
Headlines:
Subscribe to our
Travel Industry News RSS
Feed. To do
that in Outlook, right-click the RSS Feeds
folder, select Add a New RSS Feed, enter the URL of our
RSS Feed which is: https://www.travelnewsasia.com/travelnews.xml
and click Add. The feed can also be used to add the headlines to your
website or channel via a
customisable applet. Have questions? Please read our
Travel News
FAQ. Thank you.