Contraction of demand for air freight except for Africa and Latin America

IATA (International Air Transport Association) released its data on air cargo markets indicating that demand was down by 3.4% in May 2019 compared to the same period in 2018. However, 2 regions show enviable growth rates.

 

 

 

IATA released its data on global air cargo markets indicating that demand, measured in freight tonne-kilometers (FTK), decreased by 3.4% in May 2019 compared to the same period of 2018. This figure shows a slight improvement over the contraction of 5.6% recorded in April.

 

 

 

According to IATA the demand for air freight has suffered very low volumes of world trade and trade tensions between the United States and China. This contributed to the decrease in new export orders.

 

 

 

The decrease in total air cargo volume in May 2019 was -6.4% for airlines in the Asia-Pacific region and -6.9% for those in the Middle East. The declines are more moderate for companies in North America (-1.6%) and Europe (-0.2%).

 

 

 

Only 2 regions, Latin America with 2.7% and Africa with 8.0% recorded growth in air freight demand compared to May last year. In Africa, capacity has increased and the strengthening of ties with Asia has led to an increase in the volume of air freight between the two regions over the last year.