Asia Pacific airline volumes continue weak performance in January

Asia Pacific carriers have seen freight ton kilometers fall by 0.7% in January , as soft market conditions persisted according to AAPA, the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines.

The latest figures from the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines showed that cargo demand in January declined by 0.7% while capacity increased by 2.6% to 8.5 billion available FTK. The load factor fell by two percentage points to 59.6% in comparison to 61.6% in January 2015.

Andrew Herdman, AAPA director general, said the passenger industry is looking positive despite cargo proving weak. “For the region’s carriers, the continued strong growth in passenger demand was a very welcome start to the year, against a backdrop of volatile markets and an increase in global economic risks.”

The usual lift in air cargo shipments seen ahead of the holiday season had been somewhat muted, as seen in the continued weakness in air cargo volumes. The Chinese New Year fell on February 8 this year compared with February 19 last year, suggesting the pre-New Year rush should have taken place around a week-and-a-half earlier in 2016 than 2015.

The January results continue the weakness seen since the middle of 2015. Volumes in 2015 increased by 1.6 per cent to 64.9 billion because the start of the year received a strong boost due to the US West Coast seaport strike.