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“Dire operating conditions” prevailed at Asia-Pacific carriers in March, airline association reports
April 29th 2021
Asia-Pacific airlines faced "dire operating conditions" in March, the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) said today given "unabated border restrictions", the uneven progress of the vaccination rollout and a rapid resurgence in COVID-19 infections in countries such as India. Read More » Asia-Pacific carriers flew 1.1 million passengers on scheduled international services in March, AAPA figures showed, an 86.8% decline from eight million passengers a year ago. The month’s figures also were down 8.6% from the 1.2 million passengers transported in February. “It is apparent we will need to learn to live with COVID-19," AAPA director general, Subhas Menon, said. "As such, it is imperative governments across the world embrace harmonised risk-based measures that safely reopen air travel." Menon welcomed the start of quarantine-free air travel between Australia and New Zealand as well as the start of a Hong Kong- Singapore air travel bubble from next month. He added talk of more travel bubbles in the pipeline provided "hope for a gradual restart of international air travel this year". AAPA figures are compiled from aggregated traffic data from 40 Asia-Pacific-based carriers.
