AAPA: Asia air cargo demand down 2.8% in 2023
31 / 01 / 2024
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Preliminary traffic figures for 2023 released by the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) showed international air cargo demand declined by 2.8% year on year.
AAPA reports last year reflected continued weak demand in the market, and this only started to change in the last quarter of the year.
Reflecting on the challenges faced by Asia Pacific airlines last year, the AAPA said on January 31 that “air cargo markets entered 2023 weighed by multiple headwinds, including inflation, a strong US Dollar and government policy dampening trade activity as well as household spending power”.
However, despite the disappointing performance for the year, e-commerce gave the region’s airlines a much-needed demand boost in the last few months of the year.
The AAPA added that “the final months of the year saw demand grow strongly, led by an increase in e-commerce shipments. In December, international air cargo demand as measured in freight tonne kilometres (FTK) recorded a 13.2% year-on-year growth, further reducing the decline recorded for the full year 2023 to 2.8%”.
Subhas Menon, AAPA director general noted that “air cargo markets ended the year on a high note”.
He said: “Whilst international air cargo demand declined by 2.8% for the full year, the last quarter of 2023 saw an 8.2% increase compared to the previous corresponding period.”
Offered freight capacity rose by 6.4%, resulting in a 5.8 percentage point decline in the average international freight load factor to 60.7% for the year.
Menon said that challenges for 2024 included “the potential erosion in business and consumer sentiment amid rising geopolitical risks”.
Source: AAPA
Asia Pacific airfreight demand hampered by “prevailing weakness” in trade flows
