WEAK CARGO MARKET CLOUDS MARTINAIR FORECASTS

WEAK CARGO MARKET CLOUDS MARTINAIR FORECASTS    Dutch airline Martinair reported a $26.4 million operating loss for the first half of 2001, a 17-percent improvement over the $31.9 million the airline lost in the year-earlier period.
   The airline, which converts its planes from passenger to cargo configuration depending on the season, said it could not forecast whether results will improve in the later half of this year due to weakness in global air freight market, particularly in Asia.
   The carrier expects results to improve. “However, uncertainties in the cargo market — especially in the Far East — make it impossible to provide reliable forecasts in this regard,” Martinair said in a statement.