Asia Pacific airlines March passenger load up 3.5% to 31.7 m

Preliminary traffic figures from the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) for the month of March 2019 show growth in international air passenger markets, whilst air cargo markets contracted for the fifth consecutive month against a backdrop of continued weakness in trade activity.

The region’s airlines carried an aggregate total of 31.7 million international passengers in March, a 3.4% year-on-year increase on top of the double-digit growth recorded in the same month last year. In revenue passenger kilometre (RPK) terms, demand grew by 2.4% whilst available seat capacity expanded by 4.2%, leading to a 1.4 percentage point decline in the average international passenger load factor to 80.0% for the month.

AAPA Director General Andrew Herdman said: “During the first quarter of the year, the number of international passengers carried by the region’s airlines grew by 5.3% to a combined total of 93 million. Intra-regional and inter-regional markets remained relatively robust, supported by continued growth in both business and leisure travel markets. On the other hand, air cargo demand fell by 5.6% during the same period, reflecting cautious market sentiment linked to unresolved trade tensions, particularly between the United States and China.”

Looking ahead, Herdman said, “Prospects for air travel markets remain positive, on expectations of continued moderate growth in the global economy. The ongoing shift towards air cargo for e-commerce shipments of consumer goods should provide some level of support to air cargo demand, although prevailing conditions remain weak ... Having faced increasing headwinds to operating conditions, many of the region’s carriers saw a deterioration in earnings performance last year. Higher fuel and labour costs led to a squeeze in margins, despite continued growth in demand and some improvements to airline yields. Overall, Asia Pacific carriers continue to respond to an intensely competitive marketplace, actively implementing strategic initiatives and pursuing avenues for growth to sustain profitability.”