Preliminary August 2020 traffic figures from the
Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) show that
international passenger demand stayed severely depressed as a
result of ongoing border restrictions, with little indication of
recovery in sight for the remainder of the year.

Asia Pacific airlines carried only 1 million
international passengers in August, or just 3% of the 34 million
passengers carried in the same month of 2019. Offered seat
capacity was relatively higher at 9.6% of the levels operated last
year, whilst the average international passenger load factor was 35.8%
for the month.

International air cargo demand in August, as
measured in freight tonne kilometres (FTK), registered a 19.3%
decline year-on-year, reflecting the ongoing weakness of global
trade flows.


Asia Pacific Airlines Carried Just 1 Million Passengers in August

Freighter operations remained active but significant
cuts in the numbers of passenger flights led to a 33.4%
year-on-year overall decline in offered freight capacity. As a
result, the average international freight load factor increased by
12.3 percentage points to 70.6% for the month.

AAPA Director General
Mr. Subhas Menon, said, “There is no international air travel
market to speak of, as the border restrictions severely inhibit
international air travel. Abrupt re-impositions of border closures
by some countries due to a resurgence in COVID19 cases have
further shrunk passenger demand. Travellers, airlines and airports
are struggling to make sense of the patchy, sweeping and unharmonized
approaches to border regulations being imposed by various
countries.

“AAPA calls for an urgent
review of border closures and blanket quarantine requirements,
particularly for travel between countries where the prevalence of
the virus is low and contained. A more coherent and evidence-based
approach to cross border measures and processes, including testing
and quarantine, would pave the way to restore global mobility in a
safe and sensible way. The Association remains committed to
working with governments and industry stakeholders to safely
reopen international travel corridors in line with evolving ICAO
CART recommendations.”

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