The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) reported that air cargo volumes continued to expand in July driven by strong demand as shippers turn to air freight amid ongoing disruptions at major ports.
The Kuala Lumpur-based organization said air cargo demand — measured in freight tonne kilometres (FTK) — recorded a 26.8% year-on-year growth in July, slightly above the volumes recorded in July 2019.
"Strong external demand and congestion at major shipping ports boost[ed] demand for shipments by air," AAPA said in a statement, adding that the average international freight load factor climbed by 6.2 percentage points to 76.2% for the month, after accounting for a 16.4% year-on-year increase in offered freight capacity.
"Air cargo remains the single bright spot for the region’s airlines, with strong external demand boosting cargo revenue. However, this remains largely insufficient in mitigating the drastic fall in passenger volumes," commented Commenting on the results, Subhas Menon, AAPA Director General said.
Meanwhile, passenger volumes in the region for the month remained "extremely weak."
Preliminary July 2021 traffic figures released by the AAPA showed the number of international passengers carried by the region’s airlines totalling 1.5 million in July, representing only 4.6% of the 33 million that flew in the corresponding month of 2019.
The international passenger load factor averaged 31.8%, a sharp decline from the 82.6% achieved in July 2019, whilst available seat capacity for the month was 13.5% of pre-pandemic levels.
"[July was a ] continuation of yet another month of extremely weak international passenger volumes, amid an unrelenting rise in COVID-19 infections across Asia and elsewhere," AAPA said.
Menon, also cited the slow vaccination progress in the region, further hampering the recovery of airlines in the Asia Pacific.
"Progress in vaccination roll-outs across the region remains slow as many countries still face challenges in procuring supplies and suffer from resource constraints. Some governments have announced phased reopening plans, which include setting pathways to resuming international travel, based on risk-based assessments and traveller vaccination status. For air travel to restart meaningfully in the region, more governments will need to take similar steps towards relaxing border restrictions, preferably in coordination with counterparts," he said.
"The outlook for air travel is dependent on further progress with vaccinations across Asia and globally," Menos added, noting the importance of "greater collaboration" between governments on harmonised cross-border measures.