Lufthansa Cargo’s freight volumes fell 14.1 per cent in June to 128,000 tonnes from a year ago, similar to other European cargo carriers, but ending a brief burst of optimism in May when its volumes improved to only a -9.1 per cent drop year-on-year.

The drop in June volume left traffic in the first six months of the year down 20.1 per cent from the same period last year at 694,000 tonnes.

“In the air freight sector… the market environment remained weak in June,” Lufthansa said.

The Lufthansa group as a whole, including Swiss World Cargo, reported June volumes down 14.3 per cent at 144,000 tonnes and 19.8 per cent down in the first six months at 788,000 tonnes. The group’s load factor slid 4.2 percentage points to 60 per cent.

June traffic on the Americas network was down 20.8 per cent to 38,000 tonnes while Asia/Pacific shipments were down 17 per cent at 39,000 tonnes. Middle East/Africa volumes rose six per cent to 15,000 tonnes.

Lufthansa cut capacity 10.4 per cent from June 2008 resulting in its load factor slipping 4.2 percentage points to 63.1 per cent. Cargo revenues shrunk 15.9 per cent from a year ago.