Los Angeles World Airports reported a 1.6 percent drop in cargo and mail handled during 2006 to 2,103,082 tonnes compared to the previous year.

International passenger traffic experienced its first decline since 2003, dropping 3.3 percent year on year to 16,911,092 in 2006 owing to high fuel costs, a failure to add capacity and a desire to increase profitability.

The volume of air cargo transported via LAX/Ontario International (ONT) airport totalled 544,600 tonnes, a drop of 5.6 percent from 576,791 tonnes in 2005.

¨C John Spiers