Asia airline traffic climbs again
Airlines based in the Asia Pacific region carried 16.6 million international passengers in May 2012, a year-on-year increase of 8.9%.
According to the latest data from the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA), international passenger traffic, measured in revenue passenger kilometres (RPK), grew by 7.0%, while available seat capacity matched the increase in traffic demand. This resulted in an average passenger load factors remaining flat at 73.7%.
“During the first five months of the year, we have seen a relatively robust 8.7% growth in the number of international passengers carried by Asian airlines, reflecting positive consumer confidence, despite lingering concerns over the fragility of the global economic recovery,” said Andrew Herdman, the AAPA’s Director General.
“The positive trend in passenger demand growth has been encouraging, and oil prices have moderated somewhat from a peak. Nevertheless, Asian carriers are still braced for a challenging second half of 2012,” he added.