Asia, in particular China and India, and the Middle East led the relative stabilisation inworldwide air freight volumes in August, the latest monthly figures from international airports
association ACI showed.Total freight handled worldwide in August 2009 dropped by 7% compared to August 2008 withinternational freight falling by 8.6% and domestic by 3.6%, ACI said. These were among the lowestdeclines for more than the past 12 months.
Over the first eight months of 2009, worldwide volumes were down by 15.4%, with internationalvolumes 18.4% lower and domestic down by 9.5%.
The main positive driving factors were domestic freight and good results in China and India,ACI noted. However, no overall turnaround has been seen as yet in international freight.
At a regional level, airports in Asia Pacific reported a 3.7% fall in August volumes.Domestic freight volumes showed a strong 12.4% rise while international air freight was 8.2% lower.Over the first eight months, total air freight in the region was 15.3% lower, with domestic volumesat -1.2% and international volumes at -19.2%.
In North America, total air freight declined 11.2% in August. Domestic traffic was 9.1% lowerand international volumes dropped 15.7%. Over the first eight months, North American airports had a16.1% drop in freight volumes, with domestic traffic down 12.4% and international traffic 23.7%lower.
European airports reported freight volumes down 8.4% in August and 16.8% lower over the firsteight months. International air freight was 8.4% lower in August and 17.5% down over the firsteight months.
The Middle East maintained its recovery with growth of 7.2% in August, leaving eight-monthvolumes up 1.1%. In Latin America, volumes dropped 12.3% in August and were 16.1% lower betweenJanuary and August. Africa showed a 14.7% drop for both August and the year to date.
