International aircargo continues declines

Inbound freight traffic fell by 7.6% to 34,905 tonnes in September, outbound freight traffic rose by 1.8% to 24,807 tonnes and the total number of flights increased 7.5% to 11,276, the report said.

Australia’s largest airline, Qantas, carried the most freight (11,931 tonnes).

However, the carrier's share slipped from a year ago to 20% as rivals Cathay Pacific, Emirates and Etihad Airways grabbed a bigger slice of the pie, the report said.

Malaysia Airlines, Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines were among the airlines suffering a decline in market share.

The Sydney-Auckland route carried the most freight in September with 4600 tonnes, or 7.8% of total freight.

The Melbourne-Singapore route was the second most popular freight route with a 6.3% share (3766 tonnes), followed by Sydney to Singapore (3646 tonnes) at 6.1%.

Half of all freight shifted in September passed through Sydney Airport (29,963 tonnes), followed by Melbourne (15,754 tonnes) and Brisbane (6500 tonnes).