Airfreight markets were left behind the passenger traffic growth of 5.4 per cent recording a 1.9 per cent growth in total freight during the month of July, the Airports Council International (ACI) reports.

ACI says there was an “optimistic” 3.9 per cent growth in international freight, which was counterbalanced by a 2.7 per cent decline in domestic airfreight volumes.

The 3.9 per cent growth in international freight during the month of July inspired “some optimism”, ACI says, but even though the year-to-date figure for both international and total freight was below one per cent.

International freight in Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America – the three largest international airfreight markets – grew 5.3 per cent, one per cent and 6.7 per cent, respectively.

ACI says fomestic airfreight traffic was much weaker during the same period: major freight hubs in North America reported a five per cent decline, while in Asia-Pacific, domestic airfreight grew only by 0.8 per cent.

The largest freight hubs of the US, China and Japan reported -0.2 per cent, +4.5 per cent and +1.8 per cent, respectively, while the key hubs of Korea posted impressive growth of eight per cent during the month of July.

In terms of absolute growth during the month of July, the top position was occupied by the Middle East hub of Doha (+20 per cent or +24,173 tonnes), while the following six positions belong to gateways in Asia-Pacific, namely Hong Kong (+4.7 per cent or +17,134 tonnes), Incheon (+7.9 per cent or + 16,141 tonnes), Singapore (+9.4 per cent or +13,900 tonnes) and Shanghai-Pudong (+4.6% or +12,203 tonnes).

On a year-to-date basis, Doha, Guangzhou and Singapore were the leaders in total growth of +162,491 tonnes, +60,182 tonnes and +51,800 tonnes, respectively.