Leading air cargo airline Lufthansa Cargo continued to grow at a remarkably fast rate through the first half of 2010.

The company saw 19.6 percent higher volumes in the first half of the year as compared with the same period in 2009, according to Thomas Cullen of Transport Intelligence.

Lufthansa Cargo carried 830,000 tonnes of freight over the first half, while revenue per ton per kilometer increased by 25 percent.

This revenue figure was driven by increased load factor, with utilization in the first half of 2010 hitting 72.3%. In contrast, the first half of 2009 saw a load factor of just 59.2%.

Growth was strong in all regions except the Middle East and Africa. Lufthansa reports that demand growth was "pronounced" both into and out of Asia with traffic increasing 24.6%.