ASIA PACIFIC. Asia Pacific airlines carried some 24.2 million international passengers in February, a +2.2% year-on-year increase.
The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) said demand grew by +3.9% in revenue passenger kilometre (RPK) terms, “reflecting relative strength on long-haul markets”.
It said that combined with a “modest” +1.2% expansion in available seat capacity, the average international passenger load factor strengthened by 2.1 percentage points to 80.2% for the month.
AAPA Director General Andrew Herdman noted a distortion in growth comparisons due to the earlier timing of this year’s Lunar New Year festive period. But he said combined figures for the first two months of the year showed an “encouraging” +5.1% increase in the number of passengers carried by the region’s airlines, to a total of 51 million.
Looking ahead, Herdman stated: “High levels of business and consumer confidence across most major markets underpins continued optimism for further growth in air passenger demand.
“However, intense market competition, rising fuel and other costs will continue to put pressure on yields. As such, the region’s carriers remain vigilant in seeking further opportunities to enhance growth and increase operational efficiency.”
