International freight traffic grew by 2.8 percent for the first six months of the year, although there were improvements during the last two months, the Association of Asia pacific Airlines (AAPA) said.

Freight capacity grew by 4.6 percent compared to the same period last year, resulting in a 1.1 percentage point decline in the freight load factor, to 65.4 percent, for the six-month January to June period.

AAPA director general Andrew Herdman said aircargo growth was "rather disappointing", but appeared to be picking up. He said the outlook for the coming months remained "fairly stable".