Asia Pacific Airlines See Cargo Rise

The Association of Pacific Airlines reported this week that the average international cargo load factor in October rose by 4.2 percent to 69.1 percent as carriers reduced capacity by 8.3 percent.

The group representing major airlines in the Asia-Pacific region said its members carried 4,366 million freight tonne kilometers in October, down from 4,474 in October 2008.

For the 10 months of this year, member airlines have experienced a 16.5 percent decline in air cargo traffic, according to AAPA.

Andrew Herdman, AAPA Director General, said, “Airlines have been aggressively cutting costs but revenues have fallen more sharply. As a result, Asian airlines as a group are expected to record another year of heavy losses, on top of the $4.8 billion of losses suffered in 2008.

AAPA’s results followed positive news at Hong Kong’s airport, where air cargo throughput rose in October for the first time since August 2008, according to the Hong Kong Airport Authority.

The authority, which operates Hong Kong's international airport, reported a 1.3 percent rise in cargo tonnage at 324,000 tonnes during the month of October.

Hong Kong Airport Authority CEO Stanley Hui Hon-chung said the latest results reflect continued progress particularly in the area of air cargo activity, reports said. Hui Hon-chung said he hoped the momentum continues through the holiday period to provide further stability to the shaken cargo industry.