Difficult November for Asian cargo airlines
05 / 01 / 2016
Asian air cargo carriers faced weak market conditions in November as demand declined compared with last year.
Figures from the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) show that demand declined by 2.4% in November compared with a year ago as key manufacturing economies experienced “soft market conditions as a result of the slowdown in international trade”.
AAPA director general Andrew Herdman said: “Growth in air cargo demand narrowed to a 1.8% increase for the first eleven months of the year, dampened by the general slowdown in global trade.
“The air cargo business is suffering from the effects of market weakness in major trading economies, signs of inventory overhang and excess capacity.
“Overall, the region’s airlines are focused on responding appropriately to evolving patterns of market demand, whilst making efforts to increase operational efficiency and boost profitability.”
Cargo load factors at Asian carriers also declined compared with last year in November as a 1.8% expansion in offered freight capacity caused the average international freight load factor to fall by 2.9 percentage points to 65.7% for the month.
While the overall picture for Asian carriers in November was bleak, certain airlines did manage to post demand increases for the month.
