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AAPA's Menon says Asia-Pacific had "no international market to speak of" in August
September 25th 2020
Association of Asia-Pacific Airlines (AAPA) director general, Subhas Menon, said this week the latest traffic figures from the region showed there was "no international air travel market to speak of" amid ongoing border restrictions. Read More »
About 1.008 million international passengers flew with 40 Asia-Pacific-based carriers in August, the AAPA report said, down 97% from 33.592 million a year ago. Demand in the region declined 95.9% compared with the same month in 2019. Capacity dropped by 90.4% over a year ago and load factor was 47 percentage points lower at 35.8%.
Menon said the abrupt re-imposition of border closures by some countries due to a recent upturn in COVID-19 cases had further depressed already weak demand and caused confusion.
"Travellers, airlines and airports are struggling to make sense of the patchy, sweeping and unharmonised approaches to border regulations being imposed by various countries,” Menon said in a statement.
"The latest traffic results underscore the need for governments to review existing restrictions and implement harmonised protocols based on objective risk assessments.
"Uncoordinated measures and abrupt changes to protocols only serve to diminish travel confidence, with wider repercussions that impact consumers and businesses far beyond the aviation industry.”
The AAPA is calling for an urgent review of border closures and blanket quarantine requirements, particularly for travel between countries where the coronavirus has been contained and case numbers are low.
