THE Asia Pacific region now generates 41 per cent of all air cargo volumes as manufacturing in the region continues to grow, according to new research from data provider WorldACD.

The company's figures show that over the first 10 months of the year, the region's share of overall cargo volumes increased by two percentage points from 39 per cent to 41 per cent.

In contrast, Europe saw its share drop one percentage point to 24 per cent, while the Central & South America region was also down one percentage point to 14 per cent.

The Middle East & South Asia, North America and Africa were flat on a year ago at 9 per cent, 8 per cent and 4 per cent respectively, according to London's Air Cargo News.

The overall air cargo market grew by 12 per cent year on year over the first 10 months, with 56 per cent of this increase generated by Asia Pacific.

"After origin Asia Pacific (MESA) with its 56 per cent share of global tonnage growth this year, Europe came in as the second origin region accounting for a much lower 17 per cent of global tonnage growth," WorldACD said.

"But the buoyant MESA region contributed 14 per cent of outbound tonnage growth this year, despite its smaller 9 per cent share of global volumes, bolstered by traffic shifting to air this year due to continuing disruptions to the region's ocean freight markets."

Elsewhere, the research showed that general cargo volumes grew by 15 per cent over the first 10 months boosted by e-commerce traffic. Vulnerable and high tech was up 24 per cent and special cargo grew by 20 per cent.