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ASIA PACIFIC carriers have been experiencing a rebound in air cargo demand in 2010, according to the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA).
AAPA said its traffic results for July "provide further evidence of the strength of the recovery in both passenger and freight markets, with volumes surpassing pre-recession levels," it said. "Commercial activity has also picked up strongly, leading to a rebound in premium passenger traffic on both regional and long haul routes."
In July, international air cargo traffic amounted to 5,733 million FTKs, up 27.7 per cent compared to the same month last year, on a freight capacity increase of 20.3 per cent (FTKs), and with an average international cargo load factor of 71.6 per cent, an improvement of 4.2 points, according to figures provided by the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation and AAPA.
AAPA member airlines also transported 17,205,000 international passengers in July, a year on year increase of 20.4 per cent and marking the ninth straight month of growth, on a capacity increase of 6.2 per cent to 77,499 million ASKs, with a passenger load factor of 82.7 per cent, up 5.4 points, and the best level in more than 40 months.
Looking ahead, Asia Pacific airlines are now "generally well placed to benefit from improving business environment," but growth is expected to taper, yet it is still anticipated to be on track to restoring profitability".
But AAPA director general Andrew Herdman warns that the "very high growth rates recorded in recent months, as a result of the surprisingly sharp V-shaped recovery, will obviously taper off as the economy stabilises and reverts to a more normal pattern of growth," reported Asia Pacific Airline Daily.
Accordingly, the region's airlines are "still focused on careful management of capacity, tight cost controls, and ongoing efforts to achieve further productivity improvements as the industry strives to restore profitability after two years of heavy losses," added AAPA.
(Source:www.schednet.com)
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