Asian airlines continue to perform well

Despite the dismal state of most airlines in North America and Europe, carriers operating in the Asia Pacific seem to be performing very well, according to a Forbes report. While economic worries, higher ticket prices and increasing fuel costs have discouraged some in the West from travelling by air, passengers in the Asia-Pacific have clearly not yet given up on the airline industry. In fact, the number of people choosing air travel increased by 3.1 percent over the course of the last six months and 17 carriers saw modest increases in their passenger traffic figures.

Yet signs of a slowdown, even in the Asia Pacific, are now quite clearly on the horizon. While the 3.1 percent growth rate serves as positive news, especially in the current economic environment, analysts point out that this figure actually stood at 4 percent during the same period last year. As such, there does appear to be a clear slowdown starting to take place in this region. Andrew Herdman, the director general of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines, pointed the finger squarely at record high oil prices on the world market, noting that these “astronomical” rates were evidently leading to a slowdown in the industry. Herdman believes that demand will continue to decline and the only way that airlines will be able to tackle this problem is if they cutback on unprofitable routes and consider staff lay-offs, as well as retirements.