Traffic growth for Asia Pacific airlines in June

Monday, 28 July 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Preliminary traffic figures from the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) for the month of June 2014 show continued expansion of both international passenger and air freight markets. Asia Pacific airlines carried a combined total of 20.6 million international passengers in June, 2.1% more than the same month last year. Compared to previous months, traffic growth in June was relatively slower, with leisure travel markets partly affected by the on-going political situation in Thailand. Measured in revenue passenger kilometres (RPK), demand grew by 2.5%, whilst available seat capacity increased by 5.3%, resulting in a 2.1 percentage point fall in the average international passenger load factor to 77.7% for the month. For the region’s carriers, demand for air freighted goods continued to grow in the month of June, helped by positive consumer and business sentiment in major developed economies. Overall, air freight demand in freight tonne kilometre (FTK) terms grew by an encouraging 4.7% compared to the same month last year. The average international freight load factor rose for the second consecutive month, by 0.8 percentage points to 66.1% in June, on a 3.4% growth in offered freight capacity. Commenting on the results, Andrew Herdman, AAPA Director General said: “The first six months of this year saw a 4.9% increase in the number of international passengers carried by Asia Pacific airlines to an aggregate total of 123.5 million. Within the same period, air freight demand grew by 4.6%, underpinned by a long awaited pick-up in global trade activities.” “The overall traffic demand environment in the region is still expected to be positive, supported by continued growth in regional economies and further improvement in the US and European economies. However, competitive pressures remain intense, forcing Asian airlines to keep a close watch on costs while carefully managing capacity,” Herdman added.

Airports in Asia Pacific record 5.3% rise in passenger traffic in May

According to data compiled by ACI Asia-Pacific, airline passenger traffic maintained steady growth for the month of May 2014 with airports in Asia Pacific recording a year-on-year increase of +5.3%, while airports in the Middle East recorded an increase of +7.5%. Beijing (PEK) was the busiest airport for the month followed by Tokyo Haneda (HND), Hong Kong (HKG), Dubai (DXB), and Jakarta (CGK). Passengers travelling through Dubai (DXB) dropped by -2.5% in May compared to last year reflecting the impact of the temporary closure of two runways for refurbishment. For year-to-date passenger traffic from January to May 2014, the Middle East continued to lead the region with a strong increase of +10.0%, while the Asia-Pacific posted an increase of +5.4%. From January to May 2014, the busiest airports in the Middle East continued to demonstrate robust growth from last year: Abu Dhabi (AUH, +19%), Doha (DOH, +15.1%) and Dubai (DXB, +9.2%). During this period, Bangkok Don Muang (DMK) and Kaohsiung (KHH) lead Asia Pacific airports in year over year growth both reporting growth rate in excess of +20%. Bangkok Don Muang (DMK)’s growth was supported by strong domestic traffic, whereas Kaohsiung (KHH)’s growth was driven by increase in international traffic. Cargo traffic growth in the region appears to be stabilizing with improving global demand. Asia-Pacific airports recorded a year-on-year growth of +5.6% for the month of May 2014 while the Middle East recorded a decrease of -0.5%. Year-to-date growth was +5.0% for Asia-Pacific and +3.9% for the Middle East. The top five airports with the highest cargo throughput from January to May 2014 were: Hong Kong (HKG, +6.2%), Shanghai Pudong (PVG, +7.8%), Seoul Incheon (ICN, +4.2%), Dubai (DXB, +0.8%) and Tokyo Narita (NRT, +10.3%). The slowdown in cargo traffic growth in the Middle East was driven primarily by Dubai (DXB)’s temporary runway closure.