ASIA PACIFIC. Asia Pacific-based airlines carried 15.7 million international passengers in November, a +4.0% increase compared to the same month last year. This is in line with the trend for 2011, according to the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA).
International passenger traffic measured in revenue passenger kilometre (RPK) terms grew by +3.5%. However, the average international passenger load factor for the month was 1.7 percentage points lower, at 74.4%, as a +5.9% expansion in available seat capacity marginally outpaced the growth in demand.
AAPA Director General Andrew Herdman said: “Despite growing concerns about a further slowdown in the global economy, so far passenger travel markets have held up reasonably well, with Asian airlines seeing a +3.6% increase in international air passenger numbers for the first 11 months of the year.
“Given unresolved concerns about the Eurozone debt crisis, and wider uncertainty about the global economic outlook for 2012, Asian carriers are bracing themselves for another tough year ahead.
“Nevertheless, the region’s carriers are still relatively well placed to benefit from future growth opportunities, and the outlook for the longer term remains positive, as evidenced by fleet expansion plans and the establishment of new business ventures.”
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