CARGO traffic carried by the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) members fell 5.6 per cent in May 2022, reports London's Air Cargo News.
AAPA blamed supply chain disruptions and slow demand, leading to a year-on-year decline in freight tonne-kilometres in May.
Meanwhile, offered freight capacity expanded one per cent year on year compared to the same month last year.
It increased fivefold over May 2021 to 7.3 million, with demand rising to 23.6 per cent of the figure recorded in May 2019.
"The Covid 19 pandemic has transformed the world in many ways. Yet, what hasn't changed is people's desire to travel, as evidenced by the strong uplift in international travel upon the lifting of border control measures across the region," said AAPA director general Subhas Menon.
"On the other hand, after a buoyant 2021, air cargo demand is facing some headwinds with export orders facing downward pressures, driven by waning business confidence levels amid an increasingly cloudy global economic outlook," said Mr Menon.
"As the region's airlines emerge from the deepest and most prolonged crisis ever faced, keeping a lid on costs remains vital, as escalating fuel expenditure, higher labour, and maintenance costs, on top of substantially heavier debt burdens, threaten to undermine the already fragile financial recovery. In addition, airlines face increasing operational constraints as air transport strives to keep up with the ramp-up in demand."
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