International air freight fell 21.7 percent in April as the pace of decline in expedited shipping accelerated around the world.
The International Air Transport Association said the decline in April compared to the same month a year ago was worse than the fall in March and IATA for the first time reported double-digit drops in the business in all major trading regions.
Freight traffic overall was down 22.2 percent in the first four months of 2009, including a 24.7 percent decline in the Asia-Pacific region, IATA said, where carriers have pulled 12.2 percent of their capacity compared to the January-April period a year ago.
International air freight in Asia fell 22.3 percent in April as carriers cut capacity 12.6 percent. North American traffic was down 22.4 percent while Europe fell 23.3 percent.
The weak report on freight came as passenger business showed signs of improvement for the airlines. Passenger traffic fell 3.1 percent in April, far better than the 11.1 percent slide the carriers saw in March, and the passenger load factor jumped more than two percentage points from month to month.
“Freight remains at shockingly low levels,” said IATA Director General Giovanni Bisignani. “The worst may be over. However, we have not yet seen any signs that recovery is imminent.”
The Journal of Commerce Online
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