World Air Freight Demand Continues To Improve

April 5, 2017

Global demand for air freight continued to improve in February with an 8.4 percent increase in cargo carried, IATA said in its monthly report.

After adjusting for the effect of 2016 being a leap year, demand (in freight tonne km) was up 12 percent, against the five year average of just 3 percent.

“February further added to the cautious optimism building in air cargo markets,” IATA’s Director General Alexandre de Juniac said. “Any optimistic look at the future sees growing demand for specialised value added services.”

The largest market in terms of freight carried, Asia Pacific, also grew the most in February, with an 11.8 percent rise. Africa, the smallest market grew at 10.6 percent, just edging out Europe’s 10.5 percent growth rate. North America saw a 5.8 percent increase in cargo carried.

The growth in demand came on top of a 0.4 percent reduction in freight tonne km capacity, leading to a 3.5 percent lift in freight load factor for the month.

IATA said the higher levels of global export orders, particularly semi-conductor materials for consumer electronics, contributed to the growth.

(Airwise)