U.S. international air freight fell 2% in 2003

U.S. international air freight fell 2% in 2003

   U.S. international freight and express traffic fell 1.6 percent in 2003, despite a recovery in volumes in December.

   The U.S. Air Transport Association reported that international freight and express traffic decreased to 10.9 billion revenue ton-miles in 2003 from 11.2 billion in 2002. Traffic rose 2.2 percent on the Pacific route to 5.3 billion revenue ton-miles, but was down 3.7 percent on the Atlantic and down 10.5 percent on the Latin routes, the association of airlines reported.

   However, 2003 finished with a relatively strong December, as freight and express traffic rose 2.1 percent to 902 million revenue ton-miles from 884 million in December 2002.