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Asia flights filling fast
TRAVELCONSUMERDAILY.COM IT’S BECOMING harder to get an airline seat in the Asia-Pacific region with the most recent statistics for June showing that the average number of seats filled has jumped 8.5 percentage points to 79.5% compared with the same month last year. As the Asia-Pacific continues to lead the world’s regions in the recovery from recession, preliminary figures for June released by the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) report significant growth for both passenger and freight traffic. Asia Pacific-based airlines carried a total of 15.1 million international passengers in June, a sharp 25.2% gain compared to the depressed volumes seen in the same month last year. International passenger traffic, measured in revenue passenger kilometres (RPK) grew by 19.0%, indicating particularly strong growth on short-haul routes. AAPA director-general Andrew Herdman said Asia-Pacific airlines had carried 89 million international passengers in the first half of the year, 14.9% up on the same period last year, spearheaded by a strong recovery in regional traffic. At the same time, international air cargo demand climbed by 34.8%, marking a dramatic recovery from the steep declines in international trade experienced in the same period last year. “The business outlook for the coming months remains broadly positive, with the International Monetary Fund projecting a global economic growth rate of 4.6% for the year, led by 9.2% growth in Asia’s more dynamic economies,” Herdman said. SINGAPORE Airlines (SIA) further confirmed the regional upturn overnight, boosting its flying in its northern winter timetable, with increases in frequencies to Los Angeles, Moscow-Houston, Munich-Manchester, Seoul, Osaka, Tokyo, Istanbul and Dubai. Tiger Airways has also announced the beginning of daily services to Taipei from January 11 next year, as well as increases in frequencies to Guangzhou, Shenzen, Hong Kong and Macau, boosting overall weekly frequencies to greater China from 44 to 68. Fares from Singapore to Taipei are on sale from $S80 one-way, excluding unspecified “taxes”. Comment on this article |
