LAX Air Freight Dives 10.7 Percent

Air freight volume at Los Angeles International Airport fell 10.7 percent, the steepest decline of the year and a stark sign of the weak market for imports from Asia in a lackluster peak expedited shipping season.

The drop was the seventh straight year-over-year decline at North America’s largest trans-Pacific air cargo gateway and came as carriers began pulling back capacity amid disappointing demand. Freight volume at LAX expanded only slightly — just 0.8 percent — from September to October, following the slow-growth pattern ocean carriers reported in a cheerless peak season on the water.

Los Angeles hasn’t seen any year-over-year growth in air freight since March and October’s total tonnage was below even the results LAX saw in October 2008, at the start of the global trade downturn. For the first 10 months of 2011, air freight tonnage at the airport was down 5.3 percent compared to the same period the year before.