Korea's air cargo traffic dropped 0.7 percent from a year earlier in the third quarter due mainly to a plunge in exports of information technology (IT) products, the government said Monday.
The country's air cargo shipments in the July-September period came to 884,222 tons, compared with 890,348 tons transported the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs.
Domestic air cargo rose 8 percent on-year to 69,000 tons, but a 1.4 percent drop to some 815,000 tons in international cargo led to a decrease in overall volume.
The drop in international cargo was led by a large decrease in exports.
Cargo traffic at Incheon International Airport, the country's largest, dropped 2.6 percent from a year earlier as export cargo there plunged 8.1 percent to 247,000 tons from 269,000 tons during the same period last year, the ministry said.
"The ministry believes air cargo traffic will again drop from a year earlier in the fourth quarter as uncertainties stemming from the spread of the European financial crisis and a delayed U.S. economic recovery are preventing a pickup in the country's IT exports," it said in a press release.
Meanwhile, the ministry said the country's international air cargo traffic in September dropped 2 percent on-year to some 262,000 tons, with domestic volume rising 8.2 percent to 24,000 tons. (Yonhap)