(29 June 2022, 10:41 +07)
The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA)
has reported that international air passenger demand strengthened
markedly in May 2022, amidst the lifting of travel restrictions
around the region and further afield.
For the month, the number of international
passengers carried by Asia Pacific airlines increased more than
five-fold to a combined total of 7.3 million, with demand rising
to 23.6% of volumes recorded in May 2019.
The jump in demand, combined with a relatively
more moderate 114.8% expansion in available seat capacity, led to
a significant 43.7 percentage point increase in the average
international passenger load factor to 71.5% for the month,
narrowing the gap to levels achieved before the pandemic brought
international travel to a standstill.
Thai Airways aircraft lined up at BKK in August 2020. Picture by Steven Howard of TravelNewsAsia.com
By contrast, prevailing supply chain disruptions
and slowing demand further stymied global trade activity. This, in
turn, led to a 5.6% year-on-year decline in international air
cargo demand as measured in freight tonne kilometres (FTK) in May.
Offered freight capacity expanded by 1% year-on-year
compared to the same month last year, with a consequent 4.8
percentage point decline in the international freight load factor
to an average of 69.4% for the month.
“The COVID19 pandemic has transformed the
world in many ways. Yet, what hasn’t changed is people’s desire to
travel, as evidenced by the strong uplift in international travel
upon the lifting of border control measures across the region,”
said Subhas Menon, AAPA Director General. “On the other hand,
after a buoyant 2021, air cargo demand is facing some headwinds
with export orders facing downward pressures, driven by waning
business confidence levels amid an increasingly cloudy global
economic outlook.
“As the region’s airlines
emerge from the deepest and most prolonged crisis ever faced,
keeping a lid on costs remains vital, as escalating fuel
expenditure, higher labour and maintenance costs, on top of
substantially heavier debt burdens, threaten to undermine the
already fragile financial recovery. In addition, airlines face
increasing operational constraints as the air transport eco-system
strives to keep up with the ramp-up in demand.
“Nevertheless, the healthy
increase in international passenger demand and corresponding
recovery in load factors lends some cause for optimism, as the
region’s airlines continue to streamline operations while
investing to improve the travel experience as part of ongoing
efforts to achieve a sustainable and technology-enabled future for
air transport.”
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