JOC Staff | Dec 11, 2012 9:55AM EST
Lufthansa Cargo stemmed the sharp monthly falls in freight traffic in November, with tonnage down just 2.4 percent from a year earlier even as it continued to reduce capacity.
The decline, to 152,000 metric tons, left volume for the first 11 months of the year 8.3 percent lower than in the same period in 2011, at 1.59 million tons.
Cargo revenue performed even better, declining just 1.7 percent on 5.3 percent less capacity, which bumped up the load factor by 2.6 percentage points to 72.4 percent.
The Lufthansa group, which includes SwissCargo, posted a 1.3 percent drop in cargo traffic to 174,000 tons. Revenue dipped 0.4 percent on a 4.7 percent cut in capacity that lifted the load factor by 3.1 points to 70.1 percent.
Traffic fell 2 percent on the Americas network to 53,000 tons and was 3.7 percent lower on Asia-Pacific routes at 45,000 tons.
Middle East/Africa traffic bucked the global trend with a 17.9 percent surge to 18,000 tons. Revenue jumped 10.5 percent on 2.4 percent less capacity, which drove up the load factor by 7.4 points to 62.7 percent.
The global cargo market will likely grow by 2 to 3 percent in 2013, with the German and European markets expanding at the same pace, according to Lufthansa management board member for sales Andreas Otto.