Incheon Airport cargo flat-lines, passengers recovering, but Korean Air and Asiana to raise fares
Incheon International Airport, one of Asia's busiest cargo hubs, reports cargo volumes remained down by almost 15% year-on-year in Apr-2009 for the third consecutive month.
- Incheon International Airport reports a 15% decline in cargo volumes for the third consecutive month.
- Hong Kong Airport also experiences low cargo volumes, down by 20% in April.
- The depressed cargo volumes reflect the ongoing weakness in the global economy.
- Incheon's passenger numbers are slowly recovering but could be affected by the swine flu outbreak and rising fares.
- Korean Air and Asiana Airlines plan to raise international fares to cover rising costs and the weak Korean won.
- Korean Air is increasing services to China and expanding codesharing with Japan Airlines.
Hong Kong Airport reported earlier in the week that cargo volumes remained stubbornly low at -20% in April.
It is better than the 25% reductions reported by Incheon in Dec-2008 and Jan-2009, but the depressed cargo volumes reflect ongoing weakness in the underlying global economy.
Incheon International Airport passenger number growth and cargo volume growth: May-2008 to Apr-2009
Source: Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation & Incheon Airport
Recovery could be hit by rising fares
Passenger numbers at Incheon have started to climb back slowly from lows established in Nov-2008, but recovery could be hampered by the swine flu outbreak, which has hit Japan hard in recent days, as well as moves by Korean Air (KAL) and Asiana Airlines to raise their international fares from next month to cover rising costs and the weak Korean won.
KAL's fares to the US and Europe will rise 10% and 5%, respectively from 01-Jun-09 (the first increase since Apr-2006). Asiana will raise fares to the US and Europe by up to 15% and 10% respectively. Its last increase was a 2% rise in Dec-2006.
KAL is meanwhile increasing services to China (including new routes to Xi'an and Mudanjiang from 27-May-09 and 02-Jun-09 respectively. It is also ramping up codesharing with Japan Airlines on services to regional airports in Japan.