The Malaysia Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) carriers, which include major global air cargo industry players such as Cathay Pacific Airways, Japan Airlines, Korean Airlines and Singapore Airlines, saw their total international freight traffic drop for the second month in a row in July.

The July figure of 4,497 million freight tonne kilometres (FTKs) was 5.5 per cent down on the comparable month in 2007. The average freight load factor was up marginally, by 0.3 of a percentage point, to 66.6 per cent but that was due to a 5.9 per cent reduction in flown capacity to 6,754 million available tonne kilometres (ATKs).

“AAPA international air cargo traffic was basically flat and is now registering signifi cant declines,” said AAPA director general Andrew Herdman. Referring tothe group’s passenger traffi c numbers, which saw a 0.6 per centdrop in July to 12.6 million, hesaid the latest AAPA figures“provide confirmation thatslowing economic growth ishaving a very serious impacton travel demand”.

“The outlook for the remainder of the year remains bleak, with most of the world’s major economies now struggling to avoid recession,” Herdman said. “Airlines are moving quickly to cut back non-performing routes, reducing capacity in line with expected lower demand, and working closely with airports and other key service providers to eliminate unnecessary costs throughout the business, in order to survive the current crisis.”