The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines reports passenger and cargo markets continue to grow.
According to the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA), the preliminary October 2023 traffic figures indicate a significant growth in international passenger demand. This positive trend aligns with the overall recovery in traffic performance across major routes in the Asia Pacific region and globally.
In October, the region’s carriers served 25.3 million international passengers, a 102.8% increase compared to last year. The demand reached an average of 80.5% compared to October 2019. Regarding revenue passenger kilometers (RPK), the demand surged by 85.6%, mainly driven by strong performance in short-haul markets. With available seat capacity growing by 77.9%, the average international passenger load factor rose 3.4 percentage points to 80.4% for the month. This slightly surpassed pre-pandemic levels.
Asia Pacific airlines saw a 3.2% rise in international air cargo demand in October, measured in freight tonne kilometers (FTK), compared to last year. The offered freight capacity increased by 8.9% year-on-year. This led to a slight decline of 3.3 percentage points in the average international freight load factor, which averaged 61.2% for the month.
A Healthy Travel Appetite Supported by Resilient Economic Growth
Commenting on the results, Mr. Subhas Menon, AAPA Director General, said, “Asia Pacific carriers continued to enjoy robust growth in business and leisure travel markets going into the fourth quarter, reflecting healthy travel appetite supported by resilient growth of the region’s economies. Overall, for the first ten months of the year, Asian airlines reported a solid 197.3% increase in the number of international passengers carried to an aggregate total of 225 million.”
“Meanwhile, the region’s airlines posted a second consecutive month of growth in international air cargo demand in October, ahead of major promotional retail sales periods such as Singles Day, supporting higher volumes of e-commerce shipments going into the year-end festive season. As a result, the decline in international air cargo demand narrowed to 5.4% for the ten-month period.”
About the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA)
The AAPA is a prominent trade association representing scheduled international airlines in the Asia Pacific region. Headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, with additional representation in Brussels and Washington, D.C., the AAPA is a hub for the region’s airlines. Together, these airlines contribute to over one-third of global passenger and air cargo traffic, significantly impacting the continuous growth of global aviation.
