JOC Staff | Jan 10, 2011 4:31PM EST
Freight traffic at Los Angeles International Airport fell 2.6 percent in November, the first decline the major trans-Pacific gateway has reported in 15 months.
The sudden year-over-year drop came after freight tonnage at Los Angeles had surged upward 19.7 percent during a strong recovery in the first 10 months of 2010.
November 2009 also marked the first full month of recovery in the air freight business following the global economic downturn and that gave airports and air cargo operators tougher comparisons heading toward the end of 2010.
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By The Numbers: North America Air Freight.
The November dropoff was steep, nevertheless: Freight tonnage in the month was down 5.7 percent from October and the 153,360 tons was still far behind what LAX handled in November 2007, before the downturn. The year-over-year decline was the first the airport has seen since August 2009.
International inbound freight tonnage, which comes primarily from Asia, fell 8.1 percent compared to November 2009, according to Los Angeles World Airports.
For the first 11 months of 2010, freight tonnage at Los Angeles International was 17.3 percent ahead of the same period the year before.