SIA Freight Falls 20.7 Percent

Singapore Airlines’ freight traffic fell 20.7 percent in May and the carrier pulled back capacity at a record pace in the face of declining cargo demand.

The Asian airline cut its freight capacity 21.4 percent from the same month a year ago, helping SIA record its largest cargo load factor this year, a 61.2 percent reading that was the highest the airline has recorded since June 2008.

SIA’s freight traffic, measured in freight metric-ton kilometers flown, also edged up 1.2 percent from April to May, giving the airline hope it has reached the bottom of the international air freight downturn.

That downturn hit SIA, the world’s sixth-largest cargo airline, rapidly late in 2008 after the carrier’s freight business grew in the first half of the year.

But volume has been sliding badly this year, including a 19 percent drop in freight tonnage carried in April and a 17.7 percent drop in tonnage in May from the same month a year ago.