Airlines based in the Asia Pacific region saw demand decline in October as weaker activity in major economies continued to take its toll.
The latest figures from the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines showed that October’s air cargo shipments slipped by 0.7% in freight tonne km terms compared with the same month last year.
The association said this decline reflected continued weakness in export-import activities in major regional economies, including China, India and Japan.
The average international freight load factor fell further, registering a 2.2 percentage point contraction to 64.2% for the month after accounting for a 2.7% increase in offered freight capacity.
For the first ten months, demand is up slightly on the 2014 level for the same period.
AAPA director general Andrew Herdman said: “For the January-October period, air cargo demand grew by 2.2%, held back by lacklustre global trade conditions that continue to dampen Asian air cargo markets.
“Air cargo markets are expected to remain soft, given weak global trade conditions.”
While year-on-year figures for October lag behind the year ago level, there has been some improvement compared with September as the peak season kicks in.
