Cargo traffic for Asia-Pacific airlines fell for the second straight month in July, dropping 5.5 percent from the same month last year, according to the Association of Asia-Pacific Airlines.

The drop was the worst for Asian carriers in any month since September 11, 2001, and it marked the sixth straight month of accelerating declines in the region's air freight trade.

Asia's airlines also stepped up their efforts to take aircraft out of the air, cutting capacity 5.9 percent compared to July 2007. Air cargo capacity in Asia has declined for four straight months and had been virtually flat for several months before that.

Airlines around the world have been reporting a sharp pullback in expedited shipping as jet fuel prices have soared this year.