Lufthansa Cargo Tonnage Slumps 11.4 Percent

Lufthansa Cargo’s freight traffic tumbled 11.4 percent in January from a year ago amid a weakening global economy that threatens further declines over the coming six months.

The slump, to 122,000 tons, was also affected by the continuing ban on night flights at the carrier’s Frankfurt hub and because the Chinese New Year occurred in January.

Lufthansa Cargo cut capacity 13.4 percent and slashed the number of flights by 17.3 percent in anticipation of sharp drop in traffic, boosting its load factor by 0.4 points to 65.9 percent. Cargo revenue was down 12.9 percent from January 2011.

Freight volume at the Lufthansa Group, which includes Swiss Cargo, declined 10.3 percent, to 140,000 tons.

Asia-Pacific shipments collapsed 20.8 percent to 36,000 tons and revenues were down 18.6 percent on January 2011. A 21.7 percent cut in capacity increased the load factor by 2.6 points to 68.6 percent.

The Americas network held up better, with volume falling 7.4 percent to 44,000 tons while revenues were down 6.7 percent. Capacity increased by 0.1 percent from a year ago which triggered a 4.5 points drop in the load factor to 62.4 percent.

Earlier this week Air France-KLM reported a 10.5 percent decline in January traffic but British Airways bucked the industry-wide trend with a 3.4 percent increase.

Contact Bruce Barnard at brucebarnard47@hotmail.com.