The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) warns that passenger and cargo demand in the near term could “potentially” soften, as a result of uncertainty stemming from the economic policies of the Trump administration.
The AAPA’s director general Subhas Menon says the US’ decision to impose – then later pause – tariffs has led to “volatile activity” in the world’s stock markets, “casting uncertainty over the outlook for Asia’s export-oriented economies, many of which serve as major manufacturing hubs”.
Still, the association notes that Asia-Pacific carriers continue to see growth in international passenger markets, carrying more than 31 million passengers March, up 6.9% year on year.
RPKs for the month grew 9%, but was outpaced by a 14% rise in capacity, leading to a 1.4 percentage point decline passenger load factors to 80.8%.
Menon notes that “solid” growth came on the back of “international route expansion, liberalised visa regimes, and resilient economic activity across the region”.
On the cargo front, Asia-Pacific operators saw a 5.7% increase in freight-tonne kilometres, with capacity up 4.7%.
“Anticipation of US tariff announcements prompted front-loading of air shipments on selected routes, while robust e-commerce activity continued to support overall demand,” states Menon.
The AAPA’s outlook comes as Asia-Pacific operators adopt a wait-and-see approach to the tariff policies. Cathay, for example, says it is taking “proactive steps” to guard against any impact, but has warned that cargo demand will likely soften in the coming months
