Asian Pacific cargo continues to grow
Preliminary February traffic figures released by the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (Aapa) showed that a robust export activity amid improving global business confidence boosted demand for air cargo.
For the region’s carriers, international air cargo demand, as measured in freight tonne kilometres (FTK), climbed 7.6% higher compared to the same month last year.
Meanwhile, the grounding of many passenger aircraft fleets and disruptions to container shipping led to additional pressure on limited capacity.
Offered freight capacity declined by 9.2% yoy, despite increased utilisation of dedicated freighter aircraft supplemented by additional cargo-only passenger flights. As a result, the international freight load factor recorded an 11.1 percentage point increase to average 71.7% for the month. (ah)