Malaysia Airlines passenger traffic still down, cargo traffic continues to climb

Preliminary January air passenger traffic data released by the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines ( AAPA) on Monday showed airline operations remained sluggish due to tighter border restrictions in international and domestic markets caused by the spread of Covid - 19 .

At the same time, as world trade begins to regain momentum, air cargo demand continues to rise . Data shows that airlines in the Asia-Pacific region carried a total of 1.3 million international passengers in January , only 3.9 % of the same period last year , and the seat capacity provided was only 12.1% of the number in January 2020. The international passenger rate for the month averaged 27%, a sharp drop of 54 percentage points from 81% in the same period last year , and passenger traffic was not greatly affected at the time.

Growth in the e-commerce sector is supporting the air cargo market as the global manufacturing sector further recovers.

Air freight demand measured in freight tonne-kilometres (FTKs) grew slightly by 0.3% in January 2021, the first year-on-year increase in many months , partly due to increased air freight demand ahead of the Lunar New Year celebrations.

On the eve of the Lunar New Year, a large number of sellers and consumers began to purchase large quantities of New Year goods through e-commerce platforms. The demand for various products surged, and a large number of goods were waiting to be delivered.

It is reported that cargo volume has fallen by 25% year-on-year due to capacity tightening . Subhas Menon, Director General of AAPA , said: "Lockdowns and border restrictions have greatly affected passenger demand . The uneven vaccination work around the world will delay the full opening of borders . In this extremely challenging operating environment, airlines are struggling to survive. "

Subhas Menon said that while some airlines have received financial support, most will need further support to stay in business as international borders remain largely closed .

In addition, the Asia-Pacific aviation industry is committed to transporting time-sensitive cargo such as vaccines , which has played a huge role during Covid -19 .

Airlines in the region carried a total of 1.623 billion passengers and 23 million tonnes of cargo, accounting for more than one-third of global passenger and air cargo traffic.

Malaysia

Southeast Asia