According to the latest figures from WorldACD Market Data, global air cargo tonnages have dropped strongly, during this holiday season. However, despite the weakening trend in air cargo tonnages, this year’s decline at the beginning of the holiday season is smaller than last year, indicate, WorldACD data. “Figures for week 51 (19 to 25 December) show an overall drop of -11 percent in worldwide flown tonnages compared with the previous week. The decrease in overall chargeable weight is normal for this time of the year as the holiday period begins, with this year’s drop smaller than last year (-14percent) when comparing week 51 to week 50. The average rates declined in week 51 by -2 percent compared to the previous week, which is slightly steeper than during the same period last year and a continuation of the sliding rate levels that we have witnessed since the beginning of the month. Comparing weeks 50 and 51 with the preceding two weeks (2Wo2W), tonnages decreased -7 percent below their combined total in weeks 48 and 49, while average worldwide rates declined -3 percent, combined with a -3 percent decrease in capacity – based on the more than 400,000 weekly transactions covered by WorldACD’s data. In this two-week period, tonnages were down between all regions, except from Middle East & South Asia to Asia Pacific (+5 percent), and intra-Asia Pacific (+3 percent). Most significant decreases were recorded from Asia Pacific to Europe (-18 percent), from North America to Europe (-16 percent) and from Europe to Africa (-16 percent),” the data further indicates.