Global airfreight demand shows continued steady growth, as indicated by traffic figures for September released by the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA).
Further growth in exports from key Asian manufacturing centers propelled the ongoing pickup in international trade, helping to underpin a 5.3 percent increase in international air cargo demand, as measured in freight tonne kilometers.
Combined with a 4 percent growth in offered freight capacity, the average international freight load factor edged 0.8 percentage points higher to 64.1 percent for the month, said AAPA.
In the first nine months of the year airfreight demand grew by 5.1 percent, continuing the positive momentum seen since the market bottomed out in the fourth quarter of 2013, said Andrew Herdman, AAPA director general.
Changi Airport volumes slide
On the other hand, Singapore Changi Airport bucked the upward trend and reported a slowdown in cargo traffic in September. It reported handling 147,800 tonnes of airfreight last month to register a 2.7 percent decline year-over-year.
In the first three quarters of this year, the aviation hub processed cargo shipments totaling 1.37 million tonnes, a growth of 0.3 percent.
Photo: Russavia
