Asia Pacific airlines' robust passenger growth October, cargo stabilises
ASIA Pacific air carriers saw 8.3 per cent growth in international passenger market in October with 18.5 million seats sold, which helped stabilise cargo volumes.
According to the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA), cargo demand in freight tonne kilometre (FTK) increased by 2.1 per cent year on year, but failed to keep pace with an increase in freight capacity of four per cent. This caused the average international freight load factor to drop 1.2 percentage points to 66.1 per cent.
The cumulative decline in air freight demand narrowed to 1.3 per cent during the first 10 months of the year in contrast to the solid increase of 5.9 per cent for passengers at 182 seats sold, said AAPA director general Andrew Herdman at its 57th Assembly of presidents held in Hong Kong.
"The steady improvement in global business conditions, and the tentative recovery in consumer sentiment seen in the major developed economies, give us added confidence in future growth prospects, even though competitive pressures are still weighing heavily on both yields and margins for Asian carriers," he said.
