Despite fears of a slowdown in the region’s economy, air travel demand in Asia remains strong.
July’s preliminary traffic figures released by the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) showed a 6.5% increase in international passengers.
Asia based airlines carried 23.7 million international passengers with average international passenger loadings up 1.8% compared to the same month last year.
While commercial planes were 80.9% full on average, cargo traffic fell in July.
Airlines’ average international freight load factor softened 3.2% to 62.1% for the month.
"Asian carriers have seen sustained growth in air travel demand on both regional and long haul routes. Overall, for the first seven months of the year, Asian carriers carried a combined total of 159.3 million international passengers, 9.0% more than the same period last year," said Andrew Herdman, AAPA director general.
"On the freight side of the business, air cargo demand began the year quite strongly but has lost momentum as a result of a slowdown in global trade and weaker demand for Asian exports," Herdman added.
Hermann acknowledged turbulence could be ahead for business travel with volatile markets likely to affect business confidence.
"Whilst demand for air travel remains robust, the weak cargo markets highlight some wider concerns about downside risks to the global macroeconomic outlook, including the effects of slower growth in China, exaggerated currency movements and stock market volatility."
