Demand remains strong across Asia Pacific as airlines fly into the peak season, with freight tonne kilometres (FTK) increasing 5.6 per cent in October, according to the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA).

FTKs hit 6.5 billion in October helped by increasing orders going into the peak season, though capacity in available FTK (AFTK) was up 7.3 per cent, pushing load factors down 1.1 percentage points to 65.5 per cent.

For the first 10 months of 2018, FTKs were up 4.8 per cent to 60.4 billion while AFTKs increased by 6.8 per cent to 95.6 billion, with load factors falling 1.2 percentage points to 63.2 per cent.

AAPA director general, Andrew Herdman says: “The global economy continued to expand moving into the fourth quarter, with further strengthening of global services activity but somewhat slower expansion in the global manufacturing sectors. Together with improvements in connectivity, these factors supported the continued growth in air traffic demand for Asian carriers.”

Looking ahead, Herdman says: “Prospects for further growth in air travel demand and air cargo markets remain positive. Geopolitical risks and uncertainty over unresolved trade tensions are a concern, but consumer confidence levels remain relatively robust.”