Tough times for nation's airfreight industry

Chinese airlines' net profit also dropped slightly during the first nine months of 2013.

Air China's net profit was 4.39 billion yuan ($717 million) during the first three quarters of 2013, dropping from 4.69 billion in the same period of 2012, according to Air China's finance report released on Tuesday.

China Eastern Airlines also saw net profit of 3.59 billion yuan in the first nine months of 2013, a slight reduction, from 3.63 billion yuan in 2012, the carrier said in its finance report.

Due to the economic growth slowdown, Chinese airlines' income from cargo declined, although their freight volumes still went up slightly.

"The airfreight market remained stagnant in the first half of 2013," Air China Ltd said in an interim report.

The carrier's cargo yield per ton-kilometer decreased 7.6 percent to 1.58 yuan ($0.26) during the period compared with the first half of 2012, while its load factor still increased 0.38 percentage point year-on-year to 57.26 percent.

China Southern Airlines also had the same problem.

In the first half of 2013, China Southern Airlines posted 2.93 billion yuan in revenue from its cargo and mail business, down 6 percent year-on-year, while its cargo and mail volume increased 2.3 percent year-on-year, but the yield per ton-kilometer decreased 8.1 percent year-on-year.

"The cargo demand is still there, but the price is going down significantly," said Leif Nilsson, regional general manager for the Asia Pacific region of Scandinavian Airlines, known as SAS.

In the long-haul market, foreign airlines and logistics companies usually control the business for goods with high added value, some business insiders said, as they have more experience and a rich network of international routes.

"I'm very pessimistic about the airfreight market this year, and I think the market will not recover in the short term," said Zou Jianjun, a professor at the Civil Aviation Management Institute of China.