Figures released by the Kuala Lumpurbased Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) showed air cargo demand remained depressed in April, with AAPA international freight tonne kilometres (FTKs) down 21.9 per cent, year-on-year. Th e AAPA average international cargo load factor was five percentage points lower, at 62.8 per cent.

For the first four months of the year, AAPA international air cargo traffic was down 24 per cent compared to the same period last year.

“The air cargo business remains depressed as a result of the sharp slowdown in international trade,” said AAPA director general, Andrew Herdman. But he added that there were “some tentative signs that we may at least be through the worst.”

The April figures, although poor, are not quite as bad as the declines we experienced in the first three months of the year.

Despite the slump in exports, some Asian economies are holding up reasonably well, with Mainland China seeing a strong rebound in domestic travel after a weak performance in 2008. Nevertheless, the outlook for the remainder of the year is one of continued challenges.

The same airlines also carried a total of 11.1 million international passengers in April, 5.8 per cent fewer than in the same month last year. For the first four months of the year, AAPA international passenger numbers were 9.6 per cent lower than in the same period last year.