Asian air traffic jumps 10%
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Air passenger traffic in the Asia Pacific region increased nearly 10% in February 2016, cementing the region’s position as the world’s largest aviation market.
According to the latest data from IATA, the regional growth rate of 9.8% was slightly above a 9.6% expansion of seat capacity, causing the average load factor to edge 0.1 percentage points higher, to 79.0%. Asia Pacific’s growth exceeded the world’s other major aviation markets, with European traffic rising 7.3% and North America up 7.1%.
This means that the Asia Pacific region now accounts for 31.5% of global air passenger traffic, ahead of Europe (26.7%) and North America (24.7%).
In term of international traffic, Asia Pacific increased 11.2% in February 2016, while load factors climbed 0.7 percentage points to 78.3%. IATA noted however, that comparisons are distorted by the timing of the Lunar New Year celebrations.
And Asia’s emerging economies continued to drive domestic demand, with Indian traffic jumping 24.6% year-on-year and Chinese demand rising 8.2%. Australia (+4.6%) and Japan (+1.4%) also saw increased domestic traffic in February.
IATA also highlighted the fact that number of direct airport connections within Asia Pacific has increased 7.3% in the last 12 months, which it says has helped to stimulate passenger demand.
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