Demand for international air cargo among the Asia-Pacific region’s airlines grew 1.6% in 2015, according to preliminary traffic statistics released by the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines.

Freight tonne-kilometres for the full year rose to approximately 64.9 million, even though the FTK figure for December 2015 was a 0.3% drop year-on-year.

Available freight capacity went up by 3.5% compared to 2014, but the average international freight load factor fell 1.3 percentage points to 63.7%.

The association attributed the marginal growth in 2015 to the slowdown in global trade.

“Asian airlines benefited in 2015 from the robust growth in international passenger traffic and significant fall in oil prices, but competitive market conditions continued to restrain margins,” said Andrew Herdman, director general of the AAPA. “Airline profitability was also affected by currency volatility, and variations in individual fuel-hedging policies, amongst other factors.”

The year ahead would bring with it several risk factors such as the increased uncertainty over the regional economic outlook, according to Herdman.