Preliminary June 2024 traffic figures released by the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) show that there was strong demand for international air cargo capacity in the region in June.
Overall, Asia Pacific airlines recorded a 16.4% year-on-year increase in international air cargo demand – as measured in freight tonne kilometres (FTK) flown – in the month.
After accounting for a 12.6% growth in offered freight capacity, the average international freight load factor climbed by 2 percentage points to an average of 62.8% for the month.
AAPA pointed to a pick-up in manufacturing activity across the Asian economies, including those of China and India, as being in good part responsible for the healthy year-on-year improvement in demand.
Rising e-commerce trade and security concerns in the Red Sea also spurred the need for airfreight capacity.
Subhas Menon, AAPA’s director general, observed: “Asian airlines are seeing robust traffic growth, in tandem with expansion in global economic activity and improvements to connectivity within the region and globally.
“A pick-up in export activity, coupled with disruptions to maritime shipping, drove an increase in air freight volumes carried across major trade lanes” in June, he noted.
Moreover, he is confident of further good news ahead: “International air passenger and cargo markets are poised for further growth in the latter half of the year, driven by sustained positive momentum in the global economy, despite some uncertainties in the geopolitical landscape.”
In May, Asian carriers saw international air cargo demand grow by 17.9% year on year.
The average international freight load factor also climbed 1.4 percentage points to reach 61.4%, with a 15.1% expansion in offered freight capacity.
