A SHIFT in consumer spending from goods to services and higher prices was blamed for Asia Pacific air cargo demand decline in June, reports London's Air Cargo News.
Preliminary June 2023 traffic figures released by the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) found air cargo demand, as measured in freight tonne kilometres (FTK), declined by 8.1 per cent year on year.
Capacity rose by 0.7 per cent, leading to a 5.9 percentage point fall in the average international freight load factor to 60.7 per cent for the month.
Meanwhile, global trade activity was muted with the ongoing declines in new export orders, said the AAPA. The easing in container shipping rates relative to air freight rates further discouraged demand for air shipments.
"In the first half of the year, the number of international passengers carried by Asian airlines quadrupled to a combined total of 120 million, boosted by the upsurge in leisure and business travel demand, as the region's economies emerge strongly from the pandemic," said AAPA director general Subhas Menon.
"During the same period, the region's carriers posted a 10 per cent decline in air cargo demand. A myriad of factors, including a post-pandemic shift in spending from goods to services and higher merchandise prices, weighed on global air cargo markets."