September did not bring any improvements in global air cargo, with worldwide volumes continuing to shrink according to WorldACD.

Admitting that the continuous bad news is getting boring, WorldACD reports that worldwide volumes were down 5.4% year-on-year, with yields in US dollars falling 11.5% and revenue by 16.3%.

All origin regions suffered, especially Asia Pacific, with volumes down 5.8% and revenue in US dollars by 18.9%.

Africa suffered the least bad, with volumes only down 3.2% and revenue in US dollars by 6.2%.

In the first three quarters of 2019, WorldACD says only 10 of the top 40 origin countries grew, up 8.3% while the other 30 were down 7.4%.

WorldACD says the 10 outgrew the others due to special cargo increasing by 10.3% compared to the first nine months of 2018, compared to 0.6% growth among the other 30.

Special cargo has outgrown the market for years due to increased demand in sectors including perishables.

WorldACD says it is no surprise that Norway, Kenya, Colombia and Chile, countries where special cargo counts for more than 80% of the total, are doing very well.

Norway led the way with almost 20% growth, with both Pakistan and Vietnam growing more than 10%.

Egypt, Indonesia, South Africa and China rounded out the group, with the latter posting special cargo growth of 12.8% mainly due to high-tech even though overall volumes were flat.