Air cargo sees fastest growth in demand in 14 months

Following months and months of news of stagnation or minimal, sluggish growth, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) reported that June had the fastest growth in demand in 14 months.

Measured in freight tonne kilometres (FTK), demand for air freight grew by 4.3% globally. However, capacity (or available FTK) grew a little more at 4.9%, putting yields “under pressure”, according to IATA.

The Middle East and Europe performed the best, rising 8% and 5.1% respectively. However, the Middle East experienced significantly less growth this June than it did the same time last year, when it grew 14.3%.

Behind these regions, North America saw 4.3% growth, Asia Pacific 3.5%, and Africa 0.4%. Latin America reported a decline of 9.8%.

“June saw an improvement in demand for airfreight,” said Tony Tyler, CEO and Director General of IATA. “That’s good news. However, we cannot read too much into one month’s performance. Air cargo markets have been in the doldrums for several years during which there were several false starts on indications for improvement.”

(Source: Air Cargo Week)