Asian air traffic continues to climb
Air traffic in the Asia Pacific region continued its strong and steady growth in 2012, climbing 8.5% to 17.0 million passengers in June 2012.
According to the latest data from the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA), the growth in passenger traffic outpaced a 4.3% increase in available seat capacity. This pushed average cabin load factors up 2.8 percentage points to a strong 80.2%.
This monthly result for June capped a strong first half performance for the region’s airlines. In the January-June 2012 period, Asia Pacific’s airlines carried 92.8 million passengers, up 8.7% year-on-year, with load factors averaging 75.9%.
“Asia Pacific airlines recorded an encouraging… increase in the number of international passengers carried, supported by relatively strong regional markets, despite wider concerns about weaker prospects for the global economy,” said AAPA Director General, Andrew Herdman.
“But prospects for the second half of the year are still overshadowed by continuing uncertainty over the weak global economic outlook. Asian airlines are therefore taking a relatively cautious view with regard to capacity management, and carefully managing costs throughout the business.”