ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the region’s traffic growth, and discusses its growth potentials and its future importance in the world air transport market. In most Asian countries, airline policy decisions are made through consultations between governments and air carriers. For a long time, Asian carriers have been able to enjoy low input prices and relatively high output prices. These two factors have helped keep many Asian carriers profitable despite their low productivity and efficiency. The economic crisis has forced the carriers to realize that there are serious problems with their operations, and changes are inevitable in order to survive and remain competitive in this increasingly competitive industry. One good thing about the economic crisis is that it has served as a survivability test for the carriers in Asia Pacific. The air traffic is expected to recover from the current economic crisis, and to grow at a higher rate than other regions of the world.
