WRITTEN BY: FELICITY STREDDER | 01/08/2016
Traffic figures for June from the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines show that air cargo demand amongst Asian carriers grew modestly last month for the first time since the start of the year, with FTKs increasing by 4.1%, year-over-year.
Available freight capacity was up by 3.6% for the month, compared to June 2015, leading to a 0.3 percentage point increase in the average international freight load factor to 63.6% for the month.
Despite these long-awaited positive results, June’s statistics were not enough to counteract a particularly slow start to the year. According to the trade association’s data, available FTKs for the first half were up 2.3%, however, actual FTKs were down 2.5% year-on-year, and carriers’ freight load factors were down 3 percentage points.
AAPA Director General, Andrew Herdman, said that international air cargo demand remained subdued in the first six months of the year but called the slight increase in the June figures "mildly encouraging”. He went on to comment on the future, saying: "The outlook for air cargo remains a concern, reflecting generally weak trading conditions in the global economy. Asian airlines are focussed on meeting the growth in travel demand, investing in new aircraft and services, whilst at the same time keeping a tight rein on costs in order to deliver improved levels of profitability.”
news cited from magazine.groundhandling.com
