WORLD AIR CARGO TRAFFIC FELL 4% IN MARCH

WORLD AIR CARGO TRAFFIC FELL 4% IN MARCH    World air cargo traffic decreased 4.3 percent in March, to 5.6 million metric tons, the Geneva-based Airports Council International said in a report.
   All of the world’s major trading regions suffered with the exception of Europe. Airports there saw cargo traffic rise 1.2 percent to 1.1 million tons.
   North American cargo traffic was down 8.5 percent from March 2000, to 2.5 million tons. Traffic for Asia-Pacific airports decreased 1.8 percent, to 1.5 million tons. Mideast airports handled about 217,000 tons, down 0.2 percent. Airports in Latin America and the Caribbean saw cargo volumes of about 158,000 tons, the same as in March 2000. African airports moved about 66,000 tons, a decrease of 10.1 percent.
   For the first three months of 2001, world cargo traffic was down 2 percent from the same period last year.
   “Cargo throughput has consistently showed its sensitivity to the prevailing economic environment,” ACI said. Almost two-thirds of the top 30 airports saw traffic fall in March, notably the top four cargo airports of Memphis (down 5 percent), Los Angeles (9 percent), Hong Kong (3 percent) and    Tokyo (7 percent).
   Bucking this negative trend were Beijing (up 12 percent), Miami (9 percent) and Frankfurt (7 percent).