LAX Reports First Freight Gain Since 2007

Los Angeles International Airport saw its first year-over-over gain in freight traffic in nearly two years in September, in a new signal of a growing recovery in beaten-down air cargo shipping.

The key gateway for trans-Pacific air trade reported a 2.5 percent increase in freight tonnage over September 2008, the first yearly growth for Los Angeles since November 2007.

With 141,076 metric tons, LAX also had its busiest month for freight since October 2008. The September tonnage also marked a 3.7 percent gain over August’s freight tonnage, the fifth straight month-to-month gain for the airport.

The gain comes as air carriers are starting to report slim improvements in shipping demand and some forwarders are reporting capacity shortages in Asia as carriers have idled aircraft.

Although the September improvement breaks a string of 21 straight monthly declines at Los Angeles International, it’s also a product of the easier comparisons airports and other transportation companies are coming to as they move through the worst recession in decades.

September’s tonnage compares to the month that marked the start of the worst part of the financial meltdown, and when LAX’s freight traffic fell off 17.5 percent. The tonnage last month was 21.8 percent behind what Los Angeles handled in September 2006.

For the first nine months this year, freight traffic at Los Angeles International was off 14.3 percent compared to the same period a year ago.