PASSENGER and cargo volumes in the Asia Pacific continued to climb from year-ago depressed numbers, reaffirming the strength of an economic recovery.
Latest data from the Association of Asia-Pacific Airlines (AAPA) showed significant growth was posted in both passenger and freight traffic in June spearheaded by strong regional demand.
International air cargo grew 30.4% in terms of freight ton kilometers from the June 2009 figure. Even with a 22.1% expansion in freight capacity, the average international cargo load factor grew 4.5 percentage points to 70.8%.
Passenger traffic posted a sharp gain of 25.2%. International passenger traffic rose 19%, indicating particularly strong growth on short-haul routes.
“During the first half of the year, Asia Pacific carriers carried 89 million passengers, 14.9% up on the same period last year,” AAPA director general Andrew Herdman said.
“At the same time, international air cargo demand climbed by 34.8%, marking a dramatic recovery from the steep declines in international trade we experienced in the same period last year,” Herdman added.
“Asia Pacific-based airlines have seen a solid recovery in leisure and business travel as well as robust air cargo demand, with overall traffic back to pre-recession levels.”
AAPA member airlines are maintaining a broadly positive business outlook in the coming months based on the International Monetary Fund projection for a global economic growth rate of 4.6% for the year, led by a 9.2% growth in Asia’s more dynamic economies.
Airlines are also positioning to meet the expected growth in demand, through a combination of new aircraft deliveries and further improvements in fleet utilization.
