The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) released the August 2022 passenger traffic figures showing a positive recovery in international air traffic from about 40 Asia-Pacific operators. The data revealed that regional airlines in Asia-Pacific carried 13.1 million international passengers, compared to just 1.4 million carried in August 2021 showing an overall 39% rise from the pre-pandemic levels.
The demand grew by 501.3% in terms of revenue passenger kilometers (RPK), while available seat capacity was up by 174.5% compared to a year ago. As a result, the international passenger load factor jumped by 42.3 percentage points to an average of 77.9% for the month.
Subhas Menon, Director General, AAPA, said: “The healthy growth in international passenger traffic in the first eight months of the year shows strong travel demand from business and leisure sectors, even as persistently high inflation curtailed spending elsewhere. After more than two painful years into the pandemic, the region’s carriers are finally beginning to see some relief with the continuing upswing in passenger revenue, even as the cargo business remains weakened. Although cost pressures driven by high jet fuel prices and currency weakness have not abated, the rebound in travel markets will help improve regional airline earnings performance.”
Meanwhile, the demand for cargo in freight tonne kilometers (FTK), showed a decline of 7.9% year-on-year basis. The offered freight capacity expanded by 5.2%, with the ongoing recovery in commercial passenger operations adding available belly hold space. This led to a sharp 9.5%-point fall in the average international freight load factor to 66.4% in August 2022.
Amid an increasingly gloomy macroeconomic outlook, the lifting of travel restrictions in the major North Asian markets of Japan, South Korea, and Hong Kong is expected to hasten the pace of the industry’s return to health while full recovery seems unlikely until China aviation returns back to normal.