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Asia Pacific Airlines keep up strong air cargo demand in June: AAPA figures show

PRELIMINARY traffic figures for the month of June released by the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) show that broad-based increases in new export orders are driving up demand for air cargo shipments.

The statistics show a continuation of the robust growth in demand for international air freight that began way back in the second half of last year.

Asian airlines registered a firm 10 per cent year-over-year increase in international air cargo demand as measured in freight tonne kilometres. Offered freight capacity increased by 4.8 per cent, leading to a 3.1 percentage point increase in the average international freight load factor to 66.2 per cent.

AAPA director general, Andrew Herdman, said global trade activity has picked up markedly since the middle of last year, with air freight volumes growing strongly.

"Overall, Asian airlines reported a 10.4 per cent increase in international air cargo traffic volumes during the first half of 2017, supported by an upswing in export orders for both the leading emerging markets and advanced economies," he said.

Mr Herdman had more good news for the air cargo industry, saying that signs of ongoing positive momentum in the global economy left the air freight market well positioned to achieve still further growth in the second half of the year.

June figures from Hong Kong-based carrier Cathay Pacific, a member of AAPA, revealed the strength of the demand, increasing by almost 13 per cent compared to the same month last year. In the first six months of the year, cargo tonnage rose 11.5 per cent against a capacity increase of just 2.3 per cent.

Cathay Pacific general manager cargo commercial, Mark Sutch, said the carrier's cargo business remained robust throughout June and the overall tonnage was healthy, IHS Media reported.

"The new Tel Aviv service has built good air freight demand and we received an overall boost from shipments of fresh produce, speciality goods, toys and automobile parts between Asia and the US," he said.

The Hong Kong-North America routes were performing well and Mr Sutch said Cathay's two wet-leased freighters that were brought in to cope with rising trans-Pacific demand were now operating at full capacity and "generating good revenues".

"Looking ahead, the air freight market remain strong and this should continue through to the start of the traditional high demand season in September," he said.