Demand for charter flights in and out of the Asia Pacific region appears still to be growing, according to data on the website of charter data provider Avinode (Booth P410). But the statistics generated by the Sweden-based group’s online marketplace reveal some shifts in terms the geographical patterns of booking requests.

For example, comparing 2014 with 2015, requests for flights to Asia (excluding the Maldives) were up by 15.8 percent last year. More than 30 percent of those 2015 requests were for flights originating in Russia.

On the other hand, the number of flight requests for trips originating in Asia increased by only 6.99 percent. But that does not mean that people are flying into Asia and not leaving (requests are most often for a round-trip service).

Interestingly, if you include the Maldives–a popular high-end island resort area–the numbers shift significantly. The number of trip requests to arrive in Asia increased only 12.9 percent when trips to the Maldives are included; while requests for trips leaving Asia (including the Maldives) were up more sharply–increasing by 10.1 percent year-over-year.

Singling out China tells another story moving from 2014 to 2015. The number of requests for trips to China increased, but only by 6.83 percent. At the same time, requests for trips originating in China (presumably representing Chinese vacationers, entrepreneurs and business executives) were actually down by 3.9 percent. The Maldives and China (including Hong Kong) apart, India and Thailand were two leading hubs of charter flight activity in the Asia Pacific region.

As for aircraft types involved, the most requests (excluding flights involving the Maldives) were for heavy jets, with the two most requested types being the Global Express/XRS, for trips to arrive in Asia from outside the region; and the Challenger 605, for flights departing the Asia Pacific area. That dynamic held true for both 2014 and 2015.

“There is a lot of transpacific flight activity and the U.S. west coast operators have been very busy,” commented Per Marthinsson, managing director of Avinode. “Russia is still an important country for flights in and out of Asia,” he added.

According to Marthinsson, there is a growing trend in China’s charter market for aircraft operators to be represented by marketing agents who seek to get work for entire fleets or individual jets. Often these agents are former employees of Chinese operators.

But according to Avinode, there has been a reduction in the number of aircraft available for charter in China since the peak year of 2013. Across the Asia Pacific region, Avinode estimates there are around 2,400 jets available for private charter and it claims to have around 1,850 of them logged in its system.