Air passenger traffic in Asia Pacific rose 2.5 percent in January, the slowest outcome since early 2013 and lower than the 3.9 percent increase in December 2019, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
The slowdown in growth was due to softer gross domestic product growth in several of the region’s key economies, compounded by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) impact on the international China market.
IATA said capacity rose 3 percent and load factor slid 0.4 percentage point to 81.6 percent.
“January was just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the traffic impacts we are seeing owing to the COVID-19 outbreak, given that major travel restrictions in China did not begin until 23 January. Nevertheless, it was still enough to cause our slowest traffic growth in nearly a decade,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA director general and chief executive officer.
The COVID-19 outbreak is a global crisis that is testing the resilience not only of the airline industry but of the global economy.
“Airlines are experiencing double-digit declines in demand, and on many routes traffic has collapsed. Aircraft are being parked and employees are being asked to take unpaid leave.
In this emergency, governments need to consider the maintenance of air transport links in their response,” said de Juniac.
IATA urged the aviation industry worldwide to suspend the slot use rule and for relief on airport fees to help airlines recover from the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak.
“Suspension of the 80/20 slot use rule, and relief on airport fees at airports where demand has disappeared are two important steps that can help ensure that airlines are positioned to provide support during the crisis and eventually in the recovery,” de Juniac said.
According to IATA, around 43 percent of all passengers depart from over 200 slot coordinated airports worldwide. At present, the rules for slot allocation mean that airlines must operate at least 80 percent of their allocated slots under normal circumstances.
IATA said failure to comply with this means the airline loses its right to the slot the next equivalent season. In exceptional circumstances, regulators can relax this requirement.
The COVID-19 crisis has had a severe impact on air traffic.
Suspending the requirement for the entire season (to October 2020) will enable airlines to respond to market conditions with appropriate capacity levels, avoiding any need to run empty services in order to maintain slots. Aircraft can be reallocated to other routes or parked, and the crew can have certainty on their schedules.
“IATA research has shown that traffic has collapsed on key Asian routes and that this is rippling throughout the air transport network globally, even between countries without major outbreaks of COVID-19,” said de Juniac.
“There are precedents for previous suspension of the slot use rules and we believe the circumstances again calls for a suspension to be granted. We are calling for regulators worldwide to help the industry plan for today’s emergency, and the future recovery of the network, by suspending the slot use rules on a temporary basis,” de Juniac added.
