Air France-KLM, Europe’s largest scheduled cargo carrier, has reported a continuing fall in cargo volumes, down 19.2 per cent in March compared to a year ago and the fourth consecutive month that its cargo traffic has fallen by around 20 per cent.

The drop continued apace, despite an 8.9 per cent cut in capacity, excluding Martinair, the all-cargo and charter carrier that was consolidated in January. The cargo load factor, also excluding Martinair, fell 7.8 points to 61.4 per cent. Including Martinair, the load factor dropped 6.8 points to 62.5 per cent.

In the Americas region Air France- KLM saw a 15.5 per cent rise in volume for March compared to a year earlier, thanks to the contribution from Martinair which has a strong US focus. Asia Pacific volumes declined 14.6 per cent while the Middle East/Africa trade also saw gains, up 32.1 per cent year on year.