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Asia-Pacific airlines will need extra government support says the region’s airline association
March 29th 2021
Asia-Pacific airlines flew 1.2 million passengers on international flights in February, down 93.7% from 18.3 million a year ago, the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) reported today. Read More » In addition to the year-on-year decline, the February numbers were 11.3% below the 1.3 million international passengers carried in January. AAPA director general, Subhas Menon, said travel and tourism businesses continued to be severely curtailed by different travel requirements and restrictions as well as the unpredictability of more changes. "With travel markets shuttered by border closures, airlines will require additional government support to weather the crisis,” Menon said. Cargo was the "single bright spot" for the region’s carriers, he said, with freight tonne kilometres up 2.2% over the first two months of the year against 2019 levels. The AAPA figures are compiled from the aggregated traffic data of 40 Asia-Pacific carriers.
