Air passenger demand plunges by 14% on coronavirus travel restrictions

Passenger traffic data for February released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) shows that demand (measured in total revenue passenger kilometres or RPKs) fell 14.1 per cent compared to February 2019.
This was the steepest decline in traffic since 9/11 and reflected collapsing domestic travel in China and sharply falling international demand to/from and within the Asia Pacific region, owing to the spreading COVID-19 virus and government-imposed travel restrictions.
February capacity (available seat kilometres or ASKs) fell 8.7 per cent as airlines scrambled to trim capacity in line with plunging traffic, and load factor fell 4.8 percentage points to 75.9 per cent.
"Airlines were hit by a sledgehammer called COVID-19 in February. Borders were closed in an effort to stop the spread of the virus. And the impact on aviation has left airlines with little to do except cut costs and take emergency measures in an attempt to survive in these extraordinary circumstances," said IATA's Director General and CEO Alexandre de Juniac.
"The 14.1 per cent global fall in demand is severe, but for carriers in the Asia Pacific the drop was 41 per cent. And it has only grown worse. Without a doubt this is the biggest crisis that the industry has ever faced," he said.
February international passenger demand fell 10.1 per cent compared to February 2019, the worst outcome since the 2003 SARS outbreak and a reversal from the 2.6 per cent traffic increase recorded in January.

Significantly, Chinese airlines' domestic traffic fell 83.6 per cent in February, the worst outcome since IATA began tracking the market in 2000. With the easing of some restrictions on internal travel in March, domestic demand is showing some tentative signs of improvement.

Covid-19 to cost airports in Asia-Pacific $3bn, 24% of passengers: Report

Current Affairs
Air terminal traveler traffic in the Asia-Pacific district is relied upon to endure a 24% shot in the primary quarter from the coronavirus, prompting a $3 billion decrease in air terminal income and putting pressure on development extends, an industry bunch said on Monday.
Air terminals Council International (ACI) Asia-Pacific said the undoing of flights had prompted lower aircraft landing and stopping charges, a decrease in traveler and security charges and a drop in retail spending that was harming air terminal administrators.
"In contrast to carriers, who can decide to drop flights or migrate their airplane to different markets to diminish working costs, air terminal administrators oversee resolute resources that can't be shut down," Stefano Baronci, Director General of ACI Asia-Pacific said in an announcement. "They are confronted with prompt income pressures with restricted capacity to decrease fixed expenses and scarcely any assets to subsidize limit extension endeavors for longer-term future development," he said.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA), which speaks to carriers, a week ago called for rules overseeing air terminal openings to be suspended promptly considering the disturbance to flight plans brought about by the coronavirus plague that previously broke out in China in December.Departure and landing space rules mean aircrafts must fill at any rate 80% of their openings in some random season, or hazard losing their assignment next time round.

ACI Asia-Pacific said it was thoughtful with the carriers' needs to abstain from flying void planes essentially to hold air terminal openings, yet it said it needed a proof based, showcase by-advertise survey instead of cover consent to cut flights without the danger of losing spaces....Read More

Indigo to China Airlines: Worsening pilot shortage sours Asia's travel boom

Companies News:

An unprecedented travel boom in Asia has spawned new budget carriers and millions of first-time fliers, but a shortage of pilots is threatening to choke that demand.

Bamboo Airways Co. in Vietnam was the latest low-cost carrier to start services this year and more are expected to join the race. In Southeast Asia alone, LCCs have about 1,400 aircraft on order, compared with fewer than 400 for full-service carriers, according to CAPA Centre for Aviation. With the supply of pilots lagging behind, the airlines will struggle to find skilled cockpit crew.

“There’s a real crunch coming,” Peter Harbison, executive chairman of Sydney-based CAPA said in Singapore. “For new airlines, it’s much, much harder and it’s going to be a real struggle.”

Global traffic is set to double in the next two decades with the biggest increase expected in the Asia-Pacific region, where almost 4 billion passenger journeys are expected, according to the International Air Transport Association. Boeing Co. forecasts the region needs 16,930 new planes and about 261,000 pilots through 2037. That means the current fleets and the number of pilots will need to double during that period, according to the planemaker.

The strain is already showing. IndiGo, Asia’s biggest budget carrier by market value, last month decided to scrap dozens of flights every day through March after many of its pilots exhausted their annual limit on flying hours. Taiwan’s China Airlines Ltd. averted a crisis this month by agreeing to improve working conditions at an annual cost of almost $4 million after the pilots union, citing fatigue among other complaints, went on a seven-day strike.


 Even some outside Asia are running into problems: Emirates, the world’s biggest long-haul airline, said in April that a shortage of pilots forced it to cut flights...Read More