The world’s largest regional airfreight sector, Asia-Pacific, saw cargo demand drop by just under a quarter of the course of the first quarter, according to the Association of Asia-Pacific Airlines (AAPA).
FTK demand in March was down by 21.9%, a very slight improvement on February’s 23.1%. The margin is too small to indicate strong signs of stabilisation in the market, which carries about 45% of the world’s airfreight.
“The air cargo business remains severely depressed as a result of the sharp slowdown in international trade,” said AAPA director general Andrew Herdman.
“For the first quarter of the year, AAPA international air cargo traffic was down 25% compared to the same period last year,” Herdman added.
The downturns have affected a number of the region’s biggest carriers, with Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines and Qantas all reducing costs significantly to match the fall in traffic.