Asia-Pacific airlines see rise in passenger growth

Asia-Pacific airlines saw an overall passenger growth of 6% in September year-over-year, but lackluster numbers from the regional cargo sector, according to the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA).

AAPA associate airlines carried 22 million international passengers in September 2015, an RPM growth of 7.4%. AAPA said the figures reflect “broad support on both short- and long-haul routes” for regional airlines. This, combined with a 6.2% expansion in available seat capacity, saw the average international load factor rise fractionally by 0.8% to 77.2% for the month.

AAPA DG Andrew Herdman said the increase is consistent with buoyant leisure travel markets, which continues to drive  demand growth, although the overall market remains “challenging.”

“The operating environment [for Asian airlines] is complicated by the effects of slowing economic growth in emerging markets, and associated exchange rate volatility,” he said. “However, the continued growth in travel demand and lower oil prices has been a positive factor, helping to keep air fares affordable.”

AAPA said an overall growth of 8.3% was registered by member airlines during the previous nine months to September 2015, with a combined total of 206.1 million international passengers carried.

However, regional cargo markets dropped 1.1% year-on-year compared to September 2014, despite a temporary 4.5% increase in figures during 1H 2015. Herdman said the slump had dragged down overall cargo growth figures for January-Sept. 2015 to 2.6%, compared to the same period last year.
“Air cargo markets have weakened in recent months following the slowdown in world trade. [But] overall, Asia-Pacific airlines’ profitability is showing modest improvement in an intensely competitive market,” he said.