Flight cancellations caused by a typhoon in northeast Asia and national holidays in several European countries have led to a significant mid-August fall in air cargo tonnages, according to the latest figures and analysis from WorldACD.
Tonnages in week 33 (12 to 18 August) dipped by -7 per cent compared with the previous week, dropping especially steeply from Asia Pacific (-9 per cent) and Europe (-11 per cent) origins.
Further analysis, based on the more than 450,000 weekly transactions covered by the data, reveals that most of the decline ex-Asia Pacific (almost 70 per cent, or -6 per cent points out of the -9 per cent) can be explained by a drop in tonnages ex-Japan (-47 per cent) due to a typhoon that led to flight cancellations to and from the island nation.
Flights to and from South Korea also were affected, but to a much lesser extent.