Worldwide revenues in the air cargo industry were down by 9.3 percent in the first half of this year compared the same period in 2014, according to WorldACD, an air cargo market information company.

The largest 100 city pairs outside the transpacific market all suffered a considerable loss of revenue year over year, WorldACD reported. The main origins and destinations between the Asia Pacific region and Europe suffered heavily, with revenue losses varying between 13 percent and 47 percent of the previous year’s revenues. This came about more due to yield deterioration than to volume loss, according to WorldACD.

Of the top-50 traffic streams outside the transpacific market, only three recorded a positive revenue development: Nairobi-Amsterdam, Chicago London, and Mumbai-London. Over 37 percent of the volume growth worldwide came from the pharmaceuticals and perishables sectors.

The top 20 air freight forwarders as a group grew less in volume than all other forwarders taken together, while half of the top group suffered a yield deterioration larger than the worldwide average.

The demand driving air cargo volumes differs considerably from one product category to another. The growth in perishables was largest to the Middle East and South Asia (MESA), up 59 percent, and Asia Pacific, up 35 percent. Perishables to Europe and North America were more sluggish with growth figures of 15 percent.

In pharmaceuticals, Asia Pacific, with a growth rate of 74 percent, and MESA, with an increase of 66 percent, realized most of the growth. Looking at total demand, the destinations MESA and North America both grew by 17 percent, while Europe, with three percent growth, and Latin America, with a seven percent loss, lagged behind.

Taking a longer view, between June 2008 and June 2015 none of the 12 interregional markets saw a yield increase. The best performing market was North America to Asia Pacific, which aw a nine-percent decrease. Decreases in other markets ranged from -22 percent in MESA to Europe to -41 percent in Asia Pacific to Europe.

In the shorter term, World ACD reported that air cargo developments in June did not differ much from those in May, with small increases in growth rates worldwide and slight decreases in yield. What changed dramatically was performance of Europe origins, with year-over-year volume growth of 5.9 percent, versus 1.2 percent in May. Asia Pacific origins recorded a volume growth of only 0.4 percent, as against 1.7 percent in May. Incoming air cargo increased most in MESA and North America.