Compared to January 2012, demand for airfreight rose 5 percent. But demand was extremely low in January 2012 because that’s when the Chinese New Year fell, shutting down many Asian factories.
Airfreight volumes this January were 0.9 percent lower than volumes in December 2012. Capacity expanded by 2.1 percent year over year, and the global load factor was almost 42 percent.
Asia-Pacific carriers saw year over year demand growth of 7.1 percent, Middle Eastern carriers saw 16.3 percent and African carriers saw 3.7 percent. North American and European airlines experienced 0.6 and 1.2 percent demand growth, respectively. Latin American carriers’ demand fell by 1.6 percent.
“The airfreight business is showing some encouraging signs. But it’s too early to be overly optimistic. While the decline has stopped, overall volumes are still below the levels of 2010 and 2011. Load factors are low. And the global economy is fragile. Our forecast remains for modest demand growth of 1.4 percent. But with weak load factors, yields are going to continue to be under severe downward pressure,” said Tony Tyler, IATA’s director general and CEO.
Compared to January 2012, demand for airfreight rose 5 percent. But demand was extremely low in January 2012 because that’s when the Chinese New Year fell, shutting down many Asian factories.
Airfreight volumes this January were 0.9 percent lower than volumes in December 2012. Capacity expanded by 2.1 percent year over year, and the global load factor was almost 42 percent.
Asia-Pacific carriers saw year over year demand growth of 7.1 percent, Middle Eastern carriers saw 16.3 percent and African carriers saw 3.7 percent. North American and European airlines experienced 0.6 and 1.2 percent demand growth, respectively. Latin American carriers’ demand fell by 1.6 percent.
“The airfreight business is showing some encouraging signs. But it’s too early to be overly optimistic. While the decline has stopped, overall volumes are still below the levels of 2010 and 2011. Load factors are low. And the global economy is fragile. Our forecast remains for modest demand growth of 1.4 percent. But with weak load factors, yields are going to continue to be under severe downward pressure,” said Tony Tyler, IATA’s director general and CEO.