THERE was robust growth in international air passenger demand for Asia-Pacific carriers in January, according to preliminary traffic figures for the month released by the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA).
A total of 24.5 million passengers were carried by the region’s airlines in January, a strong 9.2 per cent increase compared to the same period last year.
The availability of affordable airfares, coupled with the rise in leisure travel ahead of the Lunar New Year period, helped boost passenger demand, resulting in a 9.9 per cent surge in revenue passenger kilometres (RPK).
Growth in demand continued to exceed capacity expansion, with load factors climbing 2.1 percentage points higher to reach 79.6 per cent in January in spite of a relatively firm 7.1 per cent expansion in available seat capacity.
Andrew Herdman, APAA director general, said: “For the region’s carriers, the continued strong growth in passenger demand was a very welcome start to the year, against a backdrop of volatile markets and an increase in global economic risks.”
He added that while travel demand outlook remains broadly positive for the coming year, airlines are expected to be vigilant in closely monitoring regional economic developments and managing costs due to the highly competitive market conditions.
