Asia Pacific Travel
Analysing the travel recovery in Asia Pacific
Global travel data provider OAG recently released its latest figures on air capacity in Asia Pacific. We assess the highlights.
India is the most recovered among the major Asia Pacific travel markets measured by international seat capacity, according to new figures from travel data provider OAG (based on a blog written by Deirdre Fulton).
In August India exceeded 2019 seat levels by +4%. It was followed by Vietnam at -8% compared to pre-pandemic levels, Singapore -11%, Indonesia -12% and the Philippines -17% in the month. The data was based on a survey of 11 markets:
- China
- Chinese Taipei
- India
- Indonesia
- Japan
- Malaysia
- the Philippines
- Singapore
- South Korea
- Thailand
- Vietnam
For India, key drivers have been Middle East marks including UAE (+8% compared to August 2019) and Saudi Arabia (+33%), with Qatar (+6%) and Kuwait (+5%) also doing well among international destinations in seat capacity terms.
From India, Southeast Asian routes (with the exception of Singapore, +11%) have dropped off in relative terms.
Indonesia has also seen a recent spike in Middle East travel, with Saudi Arabian routes up +79% in the month, buoyed by the two countries’ strong Muslim passenger base and the attraction of pilgrimages in Saudi.
China remains at around 50% of its pre-pandemic international air capacity in August 2023, notes OAG, although this is well up compared to just 13% in January, and is making steady progress.
While key global transit hubs are taking much of this recovered traffic from China, seat capacity to traditionally strong destinations in Asia remains weak. Japan remains -55% behind August 2019 levels and Vietnam is down -52%, with Thailand is down by -63%, says the analyst.
International Seat Capacity - Selected Asian Countries
Source: OAG Schedules Analyser
OAG notes that Thailand’s lower than average international seat capacity recovery, -31% vs August 2019, can be explained by the weak Chinese numbers to date, although these are expected to improve as the months pass.
Thailand is also seeing a sluggish recovery from Japan (-43%) compared to 2019, but the government has pledged to ease visa requirements for travellers from key visitor nationalities – including China and India – as it seeks to boost the tourism sector.
Against this, the picture is strong in Vietnam. Seat capacity on Japan routes is at +13% versus pre-pandemic, Chinese Taipei is +14%, Australia +71% and India is growing fast from a low base, even if China is still lagging (-66%).
OAG concludes: “One message is clear when looking at the majority of seat capacities for these 11 destinations – while Asia to Asia destinations are largely not seeing seat capacities return to pre-pandemic levels yet, they still account for the majority of all seats within the region.
“And with China holding many of the recovery cards for destinations such as Thailand, Japan and Chinese Taipei, it will still be a slow recovery of air capacity for those who have not diversified their routes.”
*For more, go to OAG
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The Moodie Davitt eZine
Issue 328 | 20 October 2023
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