In a further indication of an Asianled recovery of the air cargo sector, Los Angeles International Airport reported its busiest month for freight in nearly a year in August and the fourth straight month-to-month improvement in cargo volumes.

North America’s largest gateway for the trans-Pacific air cargo trade, reported a 5.1 per cent fall in August cargo volumes compared to the same month a year ago, but the decline marked the slimmest Los Angeles has recorded since April 2008 and the seventh consecutive month of decelerating declines for freight traffic.

The August volumes tipped 136,089 tonnes, up slightly on July, but more importantly it was a full 28 per cent ahead of the airport’s volumes at the bottom of the downturn in February. For the first eight months this year, cargo volumes were down an average of 16.2 per cent on the same period last year as exports out of Asia virtually dried up early in the year.