AAPA Reports January 2013 Traffic

Preliminary traffic figures from the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) for the month of January 2013 show steady demand for international passenger traffic, whilst demand for air cargo strengthened in advance of the Chinese New Year holiday period which fell in February this year compared to January last year.

Collectively, airlines based in the Asia Pacific region carried a total of 17.5 million international passengers in January 2013, almost matching numbers achieved in the same month last year. International passenger traffic, measured in revenue passenger kilometre (RPK) terms, grew marginally, by 0.5%. Coupled with a 1.0% increase in available seat capacity, the average international passenger load factor declined by 0.3 percentage points to 78.0% for the month.

Asia Pacific international air cargo demand, measured in freight tonne kilometres (FTK), saw firm growth of 4.3% compared to the same month last year. The average Asia Pacific international air cargo load factor was 2.9 percentage points higher at 62.8% for the month, on a 0.4% contraction in available freight capacity.

Mr. Andrew Herdman, AAPA Director General said, "Comparisons with last year are somewhat distorted by the difference in timing of the Chinese New Year holidays, affecting both passenger and cargo traffic flows. We will have to wait for the February traffic data to get a better sense of the underlying trends for passenger and cargo demand."

Looking ahead, Mr Herdman added, "In line with the projected growth in the global economy, the outlook for passenger travel remains positive, underpinned by sustained growth in the Asian markets and other developing economies. Hopefully we could also see some signs of recovery in the air cargo market this year, but even so, cargo rates are likely to remain depressed due to considerable excess capacity in the industry."