World air cargo traffic suffered a downturn in June due to the worseninginternational economic climate, according to the latest figures from international aviation
organisations. The figures follow recent comments by global express operators about weak demand inJune.The figures continue the general downward trend seen over the first half of2008. The key factors include lower domestic volumes in the USA, lower US imports due to thecountry’s weak economy, and a partial modal shift from air to sea transport as customers seek toreduce overall logistics costs.
According to the Airports Council International (ACI), representing themajority of the world’s airports, total air freight volumes dropped by 3.2% to 4.6 million tonnesin June 2008 compared to the previous year. Domestic freight slumped by 10.9% while internationalvolumes grew just 0.4%. Half-year volumes were up by just 2.2% at 28.6 million tonnes, withdomestic cargo down 2.8% and international volumes up by a more healthy 4.7%, it said.
“The recent downward trend in air freight is very much linked to the price ofoil and fuel. Domestically, air freight cannot compete with other transport modes such as road andrail,” ACI commented. The ACI figures are based on monthly airport data representing 70% of worldair freight volumes.
In regional terms, North America saw a 10.9% volume drop in June, including a14% fall in domestic volumes and a 3.2% decline in international freight. This left overall volumesdown 3.6% over the first six months of 2008. Europe had a 1.3% drop in air cargo volumes in June,including a 1.7% fall in international volumes. Half-year volumes were up 2.9%.
Asia Pacific, the world’s largest air cargo market, saw growth slow to just 1%in June, with international cargo growth at 2.5%. The region had 6.6% overall growth in the firsthalf-year. Smaller markets such as Middle East and Latin America also saw low growth in June.
Separately, IATA, representing the world’s commercial airlines, said thatinternational cargo traffic contracted by 0.8% in June. This was the first monthly decline sinceMay 2005 and followed several months of falling manufacturing sector confidence indicators.
“The global economic turbulence clearly shows in the 0.8% drop in freightvolumes compared to last year. Although the passenger demand grew by 3.8%, this is the slowestgrowth that we have seen since the industry was hit by the SARS crisis in 2003. With consumer andbusiness confidence falling and sky-high oil prices, the situation will get a lot worse,” saidGiovanni Bisignani, Director General and CEO of IATA.
Asia Pacific airlines led the freight contraction with a -4.8% year-on-yeardecline for June traffic, IATA pointed out. European carriers saw freight demand growth fall to0.7% in June from 1.4% in May. North American carriers also saw freight demand growth slow to 4.0%in June from 4.6% in May.
Middle Eastern carriers delivered the strongest performance with 12.1% growth(up slightly from the 10.7% recorded in May). Latin American airlines recorded the largestcontraction (12.7%) as the region’s cargo sector continues to re-structure its capacity.
