New industry reports released by PATA

The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Strategic Intelligence Centre has just released two new reports dealing with, respectively, airline seat capacity and online ticket pricing:

1. A new PATA SIC report has revealed that airlines increased overall capacity to Asian destinations in the third quarter of 2003.

"In terms of increases in net seats, Japan (624,000), Thailand (375,000) and Malaysia (264,000) led the PATA region in the third quarter of 2003," said PATA Director-Development, Mr. Stephen Yong. "However, among the PATA destinations showing considerable capacity growth during the period were the south and central Pacific destinations of Cook Islands (+92%), Fiji (+80%) and Tonga (+77%)."

The report is entitled 'PATA Market Map: Airline Seat Capacity Trends to the PATA Region: 3rd Quarter 2003'. The 'PATA Market Map' is a quarterly report that assesses trends in airline seat capacity to 41 PATA destinations from eight global source regions.

The report is an analysis of year-on-year changes in seat capacity using a current database of airline schedules, which also includes schedules that airlines have filed up to twelve months in advance. Therefore, the 'Market Map' also has the unique ability to forecast capacity.

The third quarter 2003 report is important because it identifies seat capacity changes in the wake of the SARS crisis. It provides a clear picture of how and where airlines have shifted seat capacity in response to a challenging economic and geopolitical landscape.

The 'PATA Market Map' is priced at US$100 for PATA Members and US$200 for PATA chapter members and non-members.

2. 'E-Fare Barometer: A Profile of Electronic Air Fares from Germany to Ten Asian Destinations' - The 'E-Fare Barometer' series assesses the competitiveness of Asian destinations in key tourism source markets by comparing airfares available to consumers through Internet travel portals.

The latest 'E-Fare Barometer' shows the disparity in ex-Frankfurt airfares for 10 Asian destinations booked via the Internet on e-bookers.com. The ten destinations under scrutiny are Bangkok, Chinese Taipei, Denpasar, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Phuket, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo and Yangon.

"The report shows massive disparities in the cost of air travel, depending on where in Asia Pacific you want to fly to from Frankfurt," said PATA Regional Director-Europe, Ms. Marion Buttler. "Of the 10 ex-Frankfurt routes studied, Frankfurt-Singapore is cheapest at US$0.0407 per mile, which is half the US$0.0815 per mile it costs to fly Frankfurt-Yangon."

The 'E-Fare Barometer' is priced at US$50 for PATA Members and US$100 for PATA chapter members and non-members.