AAPA airlines reports 3% fall in Oct-2009 pax numbers

Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) reports (19-Nov-2009) the following international traffic highlights for its member airlines in Oct-2009:

• Passenger numbers: 11.1 million, -3.2% year-on-year;
• Passenger load factor: 75.6%, +2.8 ppts;
• Cargo traffic (FTKs): -2.4%. [more]

AAPA: "This period has been one of the most difficult and challenging for airlines in the history of aviation. For the first 10 months of this year, AAPA international passenger numbers were down by 8.2%, whilst air cargo experienced a 16.5% decline. Airlines have been aggressively cutting costs but revenues have fallen even more sharply. As a result, Asian airlines as a group are expected to record another year of heavy losses, on top of the USD4.8 billion of losses suffered in 2008. In recent months, we have seen some tentative signs of a recovery in traffic volumes, but yields have been severely depressed," Andrew Herdman, AAPA Director General. Source: Company statement, 19-Nov-2009.