Asia-Pacific international air traffic drops 72% in March over Covid-19

Asia Pacific airlines carried a combined total of only 8.8 million international passengers in March, representing a steep 72.9 per cent decline compared to the same month last year, traffic figures released on Wednesday showed.

Demand in revenue passenger kilometres fell by 70.7 per cent while available seat capacity fell by 55.6 per cent year-on-year, leading to a 27.4 percentage point plunge in the average international passenger load factor to 52.9 per cent in March.

The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) said air cargo demand too plummeted as Covid-19 infections spread to many countries across the world. In March, the World