FRUIT and vegetable exporters are upset international airlines are giving preference to seafood when allocating freight space for exports.

Several exporters complained to The Weekly Times that they were unable to fly shipments of stonefruit to Hong Kong ahead of the Chinese New Year, because airlines had cancelled flights, double booked or shunted their orders aside in favour of seafood.

David Minnis, former deputy chairman of the Australian Horticultural Exporters Association, said trying to send fruit from Melbourne "had been a nightmare".

Mr Minnis said he was forced to transfer 4500 cartons of fruit by road from Melbourne to Sydney, in order to fly it out in time to reach Thailand and Hong Kong.

It costs him an extra $4500.

"The airlines will probably say there's plenty of space. If the fruit and vegie guys are prepared to pay the same freight rate as the seafood, they'll get all the space they like," he said.

"That will be their answer, because we pay about a third of what the seafood exporters pay."

Mr Minnis said the problem had worsened this year, because most airlines were losing money and if there were insufficient passengers flying to Melbourne, there would be less space available for freight on the return trip.

One exporter, who tried to fly 4000 cartons of nectarines to Hong Kong, discovered they had been left in a cool room for more than a week before they could be shipped. Some of the fruit had gone soft by the time it arrived, costing him up to $5 a box.

Cathay Pacific last year announced it would reduce cargo capacity worldwide by 11 per cent, cutting the frequency of freighter flights from Australia to just two each week.

Cathay Pacific spokesman David Bell said it was "just one of those things that couldn't be helped".

"We endeavour to carry all freight that's booked, but seafood pays a much higher rate ($2.50/kg compared to 45 cents for stonefruit), which helps keep the service viable," he said.

A Qantas spokeswoman said none of the airline's daily Melbourne-Hong Kong services were overbooked between February 7 and 11, the five peak demand days ahead of the Chinese New Year.