Asian airfreight volumes taking off in October
The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (Aapa) recently released preliminary traffic figures for October that showed continued growth in cargo demand. International airfreight demand, as measured in freight tonne kilometres (FTK), grew by a firm 6.4% in the month under review, on the back of buoyant demand for electronic goods from manufacturing hubs in North Asia. Combined with a more modest 3.8% increase in offered freight capacity, the average international freight load factor climbed 1.5 percentage points to average 66.4% for the month.
Commenting on the results, Andrew Herdman, Aapa director general said, "during the first ten months of the year, Asia Pacific airfreight markets grew by 5.1%. Overall, Asian carriers remain positive on the outlook for further growth, but are still carefully controlling costs in a bid to restore profitability to more sustainable levels."