The solid expansion in international cargo markets continued unabated for Asian airlines in August, while international passenger demand showed encouraging growth, according to traffic figures from the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA).
Growth in both markets was supported by high business confidence levels across the services and manufacturing sectors in major advanced and emerging economies, AAPA said.
Firm demand for manufactured products, particularly pharmaceutical goods and technological equipment, underpinned August’s strong 12.2% increase in air cargo demand as measured in freight tonne kilometers. The growth in air cargo volumes significantly outpaced the 5.6% expansion in offered freight capacity, leading to a 3.8 percentage point rise in the average international freight load factor to 64.1% for the month.
The month saw the region’s airlines record a 5.6% increase in the number of international air passengers carried to a combined total of 27.8 million, boosted by a combination of higher leisure travel demand during the holiday season as well as travel for business purposes.
Reflecting ongoing strength in long-haul markets, demand in revenue passenger kilometer terms increased by 7.1%. Available seat capacity expanded by 6.7%, resulting in a marginal 0.3 percentage point increase in the average international passenger load factor to 81.7% for the month.
Andrew Herdman, AAPA director general, said, “Asian airlines were encouraged by the continued expansion in both international air passenger and cargo markets, registering a 5.2% increase in the number of international air passengers carried to a combined total of 210 million for the first eight months of the year. During the same period, international air cargo markets saw a robust 10.6% increase in freight traffic carried by Asian airlines.”
Herdman added, “The sustained growth in air traffic demand has clearly been positive for the sector. Nevertheless, against the backdrop of a challenging operating environment marked by highly competitive air fares and rising costs, Asian carriers are continuing to work hard to improve profitability, with considerable variations in individual airline performance, both globally and within the region.”
Looking ahead, he continued, “Broad-based expansion in global economic output should help to sustain further growth in both air passenger and air cargo traffic demand in the upcoming months, and the longer term outlook remains broadly positive.”
Photo: Buyung koto
