Further cuts in global freighter capacity are inevitable because of unsustainable loss-making among airlines, according to Europe’s biggest all-cargo carrier.

Robert van de Weg, senior VP for sales and marketing at Cargolux, said demand was down by 20-25 per cent, but estimated that capacity had only been reduced by 10-12 per cent. “So there is quite a lot still to come out, “ he added, saying Cargolux had reduced its services by around 10 per cent.

Most of the world’s main freighter operators have significantly reduced capacity in recent months, with big Asian carriers such as Cathay Pacific cutting freighter services by around 20 per cent.