Asia-Pacific airlines see 'solid growth' in 2010

Asia-Pacific airlines recorded "solid growth" in 2010 with a strong rebound in passenger numbers, an industry group said Wednesday as it forecast further gains for this year.

The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) said regional airlines carried 185 million international passengers in 2010, up 13.0 percent from the previous year.

International air cargo demand grew by 24.2 percent in freight tonne kilometres year-on-year, following declines of 10 percent and 7 percent in 2009 and 2008 respectively.

"Asia Pacific carriers enjoyed a year of solid growth, with robust demand for both leisure and business travel, and the strong rebound in international trade, led by dynamic growth of the Asia Pacific region," AAPA director general Andrew Herdman said in a statement.

The industry group said the outlook for 2011 remains "broadly positive".

"Given expectations of further sustained growth in traffic demand, the outlook for the new year remains broadly positive," he said.

"The prevailing shift of political influence and commercial dynamism towards Asia should result in players from the region playing an increasingly important role in shaping the future of the air transport industry."

World airline industry group, the International Air Transport Association, in December raised its forecast for airline earnings in 2010 to a record 15.1 billion dollars from 8.9 billion dollars as economic conditions improved.

However it has predicted that airlines would face more turbulence in 2011.

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