Business Digest
Lunar New Year boosts passenger demand
May 1st 2014
A total of 19.5 million international passengers flew on Asia-Pacific airlines in February, 3.8% more than in the same month last year. The numbers benefitted from an increase in leisure traffic during the Chinese New Year festive period from late January to early February. Measured in revenue passenger kilometres (RPK), international passengers carried increased by a corresponding 3.8%, which underlined continued demand for long- haul and regional travel. Available seat capacity expanded by 5.2%, which produced a1.0 percentage point fall in the average international passenger load factor, to 77.0%, for the month. Read More »
Combined, the first two months of 2014 produced a 7.0% increase in passenger numbers, to 40.9 million, driven by growth in the region and increases in business and consumer spending in the advanced economies. Demand in RPKs increased by 6.7%, whilst available seat capacity rose by 7.0%, which lead to a 0.2 percentage point fall in the average international passenger load factor, to 77.9%.
Asia- Pacific carriers report freight upswing
For Asia Pacific airlines, international freight demand, as measured in freight tonne kilometres (FTK), declined by 0.6% in February, compared with the same month in 2013, partly due to the closure of regional manufacturing plants during the Chinese New Year holiday. Offered freight capacity expanded by 1.4%, which resulted in a 1.2 percentage point fall in the average international freight load factor, to 61.1%.
Data for the first two months of the year revealed a 2.0% increase compared with the weaker volumes recorded in the same period last year. This is a continuation of the slight upswing in cargo demand experienced since the last quarter of 2013. Due to a 4.2% expansion in offered freight capacity, the average international freight load factor for Asia-Pacific carriers during this period was 60.9%, 1.3 percentage points lower than the first two months of last year.
New capacity at region’s airlines erodes load factor
Asia Pacific-based airlines carried 21.2 million international passengers in March. This result was 2.7% better than the same month last year, when leisure travel demand experienced a boost from the earlier timing of the Easter holiday period. International passenger traffic, in revenue passenger kilometre (RPK) terms, grew by 2.1%. Combined with a 5.8% expansion in available seat capacity, the average international passenger load factor fell by 2.8 percentage points, to 76.7%, for the month.
Boosted by stronger export markets, the region’s carriers registered a 6.7% increase in international freight demand in freight tonne kilometres. Offered freight capacity grew by 5.9%. Consequently the average international air cargo load factor for Asia-Pacific airlines edged higher by 0.5 percentage points, to 68.4%, the first increase in more than a year.
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This report was compiled by the Research and Statistics Department of the AAPA Secretariat.
