Preliminary figures released by the Association of AsiaPacific Airlines (AAPA) indicate that both passenger and air cargo markets continued to show further improvement in April despite a week of disruptions to traffic in and out of Europe as aresult of the Icelandic volcanic eruption.
A total of 15.2 million international passengers were transported by Asia Pacific-based airlines in April, 11.7% more than in the same month last year. International passenger traffic, in revenue passenger kilometre (RPK) terms, grew by 8.9%. With available seat capacity posting a modest rise of 1.2%, the average internationalpassenger load factor increased by 5.6 percentage points to 78.4%.
Andrew Herdman, AAPA Director General said, “Notwithstanding the recent impact of disruptions to European air services, Asia Pacific carriers have recorded positive growth in both passenger and freight demand in April.
"For the first four months of 2010, international passenger traffic for Asia Pacific carriers achieved 11% growth compared with the same period last year, reflecting the robust recovery in business and consumer confidence across the region.”
Herdman concluded, “Overall, traffic demand is now back to the levels seen before the recession. The outlook for the coming months remains broadly positive, supported by Asia’s buoyant economic growth, although concerns remain over regional imbalances, as well as oil
and currency volatility.”
