Air cargo is continuing to struggle in June with a 7.2% fall in demand, the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) reports.

Demand in freight tonne kilometres (FTK) was down 7.2% to 5.8 billion, while capacity in freight available tonne kilometres (FATK) rose 1% to 9.8 billion, pushing down load factors by 5.1 percentage points to 58.8%.

Between January and June, demand fell 6.2% to 34.3 billion, with capacity up 1% to 58.8 billion, and load factors falling 4.5 percentage points to 58.3%.

Andrew Herdman, director general of AAPA says: “Asian airlines recorded a 6.2% decline in air cargo demand, reflecting prevailing weakness in international trade flows across regions, as widening trade disputes and higher tariffs continued to disrupt global supply chains.”

He adds: “With moderating global business optimism levels and the absence of significant progress in trade negotiations, air cargo demand is expected to remain weak.”