The airport saw an 18 percent drop in landed cargo tonnage when compared to same period a year ago, said Keith Day, the international airport system controller.

Listed as the world's number three airport in landed cargo weights, the Anchorage airport has routinely posted an annual growth of between 5 and 6 percent in cargo.

Cargo weights for June 2008 were at 1.98 million tons, compared to just less than 2.4 million tons a year ago, a decline of 18 percent, airport officials said.

The decline was attributed to the higher fuel prices in July and the fact that fewer contract carriers landed in Anchorage in June and July, Day said.

The number of passenger enplanements - the number of people who got on planes - rose 3 percent during the same period, Day said. Airlines carried 527,922 passengers in June 2007, compared to 544,695 this year.

“The passenger carriers have cut back on the frequencies and have become more efficient with their loads,” Day said. “This factor has added to the total landed tonnage drop, despite the increase in passenger enplanements.”

Day indicated that cargo landed weights started dropping last October 2007 at a modest decline of 2 percent to 5 percent a month.

While the price of fuel has impacted most of the transportation industry, the effects to the air cargo industry seem to be driven more by what is being shipped, Day said.

“Some of the contract carriers that usually provide extra lift for on-demand shipments are now missing, indicating a drop in sales between Asia and the U.S.,” said Day.

Landed weights of the aircraft are included for both passenger and cargo aircraft as part of their landing fees. The difference between the passenger carriers and the cargo operators is that the airlines also have to pay airport lease fees, Day said.