Asia Pacific carriers see cargo decline - Air Cargo Week

Wednesday, January 14, 2026

Asia Pacific carriers see cargo decline

Asia Pacific carriers see cargo decline

Associations Asia Pacific Airlines

November 30, 2015

Weakness in major economies such as China, India and Japan has caused airfreight in Asia to fall by 0.7 per cent in October, according to the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA).

In the association’s October report, it says freight tonne kilometres (FTK) contracted by 0.7 per cent to 5.6 billion, blamed on weak imports and exports in the important regional economies.

Between January and October 2015, FTK has increased by 2.2 per cent to 53.3 billion, helped by a very strong start to the year, caused by the US West coast seaport strike.

AAPA director general, Andrew Herdman says: “For the January – October period, air cargo demand grew by 2.2 per cent, held back by lacklustre global trade conditions that continue to dampen Asian air cargo markets.”

Capacity in the region measured in available freight tonne kilometres has increased by 2.7 per cent to 8.7 billion in October. The load factor fell by 2.2 percentage points to 64.2 per cent.

Herdman adds air cargo markets are expected to remain soft, given weak global trade conditions.

James Graham

James Graham is an award-winning transport media journalist with a long background in the commercial freight sector, including commercial aviation and the aviation supply chain. He was the initial Air Cargo Week journalist and retuned later for a stint as editor. He continues his association as editor of the monthly supplements. He has reported for the newspaper from global locations as well as the UK.

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