Airline passenger, cargo volume picks up in AsPac

MANILA, Philippines - Airline passenger and cargo volume in the Asia Pacific region including the Philippines picked up in January as a result of the strong demand for air travel due to the Chinese New Year.

According to data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), global air travel showed a continued uptick that began at the end of last year as demand was up by 2.7 percent in January or higher than seat expansion of 2.2 percent in the same period in 2012.

Passenger load factor stood at 77.1 percent as Chinese New Year fell in January and February this year resulting to strong demand for air travel.

After adjusting for such seasonal factors, IATA director general and chief executive officer Tony Tyler said the actual growth would have been 3.5 percent or lower than the 5.3 percent average last year as air travel growth slowed sharply through the year and the results of the past few months represent an acceleration of demand growth.

Tyler said recent months have seen some positive economic signs emerge in both the US and China, and the euro zone crisis seems to have stabilized.

“Passenger travel is growing in line with business confidence levels,” he stressed.

He pointed out that risks remain including the impact of US budget cuts that has yet to play out and fuel prices are high as well as other headwinds and their underlying support for continued and potentially even strengthened growth.

Data showed that Asia-Pacific airlines - which captured over half of the growth in demand between October and January – posted a three percent rise in demand in January.

However, this was the weakest compared to Middle East airlines with 14.3 percent, Latin American airlines with 12.2 percent, African airlines with 9.4 percent but faster than the 2.1 percent growth of European airlines as well as the 1.5 percent growth of European airlines.

Tyler said global attention is focused on the US to understand the economic impact of mandated budget cuts.

“For millions of travelers and the aviation industry, the concerns go deeper. There are threats of reduced availability of government-provided services for airport security, border control and air traffic management,” he said.

Likewise, IATA reported that demand for air freight was very strong at five percent in January showing a stabilization of air freight markets on the back of encouraging growth towards the end of 2012.

“The air freight business is showing some encouraging signs. But it’s too early to be overly optimistic. While the decline has stopped, overall volumes are still below the levels of 2010 and 2011. Load factors are low. And the global economy is fragile. Our forecast remains for modest demand growth of 1.4 percent. But with weak load factors, yields are going to continue to be under severe downward pressure,” Tyler said.

Asia-Pacific carriers, which represent some 39.2 percent of global air cargo, saw year-on-year demand growth of 7.1 percent.

“Air cargo is important to the global economy and everyday life. By value, nearly a third of goods traded internationally are shipped by air. Jobs and economic opportunities are created by connecting goods to markets. And lives are enriched by the global trade of products and services which is made possible by air connectivity.  Supporting the sector’s success is in everybody’s interest,” he added.