THE European recession is expected to depress air freight volumes of the members of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA), which fell 13.7 per cent in January year on year.
    International cargo load factors fell to an average of 59.6 per cent, a drop of 5.7 percentage points despite a 5.3 per cent reduction in capacity, according to the AAPA.
    "With Europe sliding into recession, we expect this to be another challenging year, but remain optimistic given signs of recovery in the US and continuing positive momentum in Asia," said AAPA director general Andrew Herdman.
    Mr Herdman also said the continuing decline was a reflection of the early timing of Chinese New Year in January, when Asian factory production slows down, as well as the uncertain state of the global economy.

(source:shipping online)