AAPA reports slowing growth in April

The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA)’s most recent traffic results show volume growth among member carriers – a 5.8 percent increase, year-over-year, in freight tonne kilometers (FTKs) moved by member carriers in April – but AAPA also notes that the rate at which traffic is growing is losing steam.

While the results are still indicative of positive growth, industry members may need to brace themselves as 2017’s high begins to wear off, the association suggested. April’s figure is 1.5 percentage points lower than its February growth rate of 7.3 percent, y-o-y, while the average international freight load factor decreased by 0.5 percentage points to 64 percent for the month.

Our sister publication Cargo Facts reported that growth rates slowed in April for airlines from every region, but especially among Asia-Pacific carriers.

The organization said its carriers are still experiencing growth in “most sectors,” namely technology and consumer goods, but Andrew Herdman, director general at AAPA added that “operating conditions remain challenging, with airlines still facing intense competition and the pressure of sharply higher fuel costs, up more than 30 percent compared to last year.”