Air cargo across Asia Pacific has continued to grow at a robust rate in April, the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) reports.

The association says that despite signs that international trade flows may be easing, international cargo demand grew by 5.8 per cent in April to six billion freight tonne kilometres.

Capacity measured in available freight tonne kilometres increased by 6.6 per cent to 9.5 billion, while load factors fell by 0.5 percentage points to 64.1 per cent.

In the first four months of the year, freight tonne kilometres increased by 5.7 per cent to 23 billion, capacity was up 6.5 per cent to 37 billion and load factors were down 0.5 percentage points to 62.2 per cent.

AAPA director general, Andrew Herdman says: “The global economy is still on a solid footing, with growth in most sectors, including technology and consumer goods. Accordingly, business and consumer sentiment remained relatively positive, underpinning further growth in passenger travel and air cargo demand.

“Overall, during the first four months of the year, Asia Pacific airlines carried an aggregate total of 118 million international passengers, a solid 7.3 per cent increase compared to the same period last year. Correspondingly, air cargo demand registered an encouraging 5.7 per cent growth during the same period, on top of the strong 9.6 per cent annual increase recorded in 2017.”