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AAPA upbeat on 2011 (October 26, 2010)

The director general of the Association of Asia-Pacific airlines Andrew Herdman says the outlook for the next 12 months is “very positive” as the trade body reported another set of healthy traffic figures.

AAPA carriers saw a 13.4% year-on-year increase in international passenger traffic to 15.2 million passengers in September, while revenue passenger kilometre traffic was up 9.3%. Year-on-year comparisons are starting to get tougher as the recovery in the second half of 2009 comes into play.

Seat capacity was up 6.6%, resulting in a 1.9 percentage point is in load factors to 79.0%.

Herdman commented: “Asian consumers are already displaying confidence in the future. At the same time, a broad-based pick-up in business sentiment is evident in the marked recovery in demand for premium seats, a segment of the market in which Asian carriers have traditionally excelled.”

He added, “the overall outlook for Asian carriers remains very positive over the next 12 months, with prospects for urther sustained growth in demand in line with established long-term trends.”