AAPA reports on encouraging airfreight demand in Asia-Pacific region

The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) has released preliminary traffic figures for the month of July showing that demand for air cargo capacity remained firm during the month for the region’s air cargo carriers, despite “moderating expansion” in the global services and manufacturing sectors.
International air cargo demand, as measured in freight tonne-kilometres (FTK) flown by those airlines, rose by 5% compared with the same month of 2017.
According to AAPA, consumer confidence in the region has apparently remained relatively unaffected by the political rhetoric of recent times, including the potential threat of protectionist measures.
However, the average international freight load factor did fall by 0.5 percentage points to 64.4% for the month, due to a 5.9% increase in offered airfreight capacity.
Andrew Herdman, AAPA director general, observed that the strong growth in air cargo volumes had been sustained by “broad-based growth in the global economy”.
And he forecast: “For the upcoming months, the global economic outlook remains positive, despite some concern that uncertainties over future trade policy could undermine business confidence internationally.
“On a more positive note, both the United States and China have announced expansionary fiscal measures, which should stimulate domestic demand in the advanced and emerging market economies, and hopefully mitigate any adverse impact from new tariff barriers.”
The July statistics represented an improvement on the position in June. Airlines in the Asia Pacific region saw cargo demand growth weaken in that month, in line with a slowdown in the manufacturing sector.
AAPA figures suggested that carriers saw cargo traffic increase by 3.4% year on year in June, a slowdown on the 4.9% increase registered over the first six months of the year.
“The global manufacturing sector, whilst still expanding, experienced slower growth in June,” AAPA said. “The average international freight load factor declined by 1.9 percentage points to 64.5% in June, on the back of a 6.4% expansion in offered freight capacity.”