AAPA: air cargo demand “declined markedly” in October

International air cargo demand “declined markedly” in October, said the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA).

The association said October’s preliminary traffic figures for Asia Pacific airlines show international air cargo demand declined by 13.9% year on year in freight tonne km (FTK) terms, amid a downturn in export markets for intermediate goods.

Offered freight capacity fell marginally, by 1.2% year on year, leading to a 9.6 percentage point fall in the average international freight load factor to 64.7%.

Meanwhile, Asia Pacific airlines carried a combined total of 12.1m international passengers in October, an eight-fold increase compared to the 1.4m in the same month last year.

Overall, passenger traffic volumes reached 38.6% of pre-pandemic levels.

AAPA director general Subhas Menon said air cargo faced “multiple headwinds”.

He commented: “Declining business confidence, against a backdrop of rising risks to the global economy, led to a slowing in orders for manufactured goods, in turn driving a 5.5% year-on-year decline in air cargo demand for the first ten months of the year.”

He added that “the region’s airlines are facing a challenging operating environment, as a result of high fuel prices, weak local currencies and manpower shortages”.