Worldwide air cargo volumes declined 3.7% last year, with international freight down 2.4% anddomestic freight down 5.4%, according to the newly-published 2008 World Airport Traffic Report from
the international airports association Airports Council International (ACI).A record number of 1,357 airports, representing approximately 98% of global airport traffic,contributed to the report, making it one of the most comprehensive statistical sources for cargo(freight and mail) traffic.
Global industrial production began to contract in July 2008 followed by a sharp drop inglobal trade volumes in the last quarter leading to a collapse in global air freight peaking inDecember 2008, ACI pointed out. The 2008 total of 86 million tonnes represented a 3.7% decline.
“The downward spiral for cargo year-end has yet to be reversed, with cargo results tied downby the slow resurgence of global trade. Traffic results for the first half of 2009 show thatfreight remains strongly depressed relative to the first quarter of 2008, with only timidindications of market stabilisation beginning to emerge,” commented ACI World Director GeneralAngela Gittens.
The US remained by far the largest individual air cargo market in the world in 2008,accounting for a third of the global volume even though it shrank by 9.1% both in domestic andinternational freight. North America as a whole saw an 8.4% drop in cargo volumes to 28.5 milliontonnes, which was by far the largest decline among regional markets.
China (including Hong Kong) ranked second among individual markets, accounting for 13% ofglobal air shipments. Total freight in China grew by 1.8%, with almost equal growth levels in thedomestic and international markets, ACI said. However, Asia Pacific as a whole, the largestregional market, saw volumes drop by 1.7% to 29 million tonnes last year.
Europe, the third-largest regional market, had a 1% drop to 17.5 million tonnes. Among thethree smaller regional markets, Latin America/Caribbean declined 4.2% to 4.6 million tonnes, theMiddle East grew 1.6% to 4.3 million tonnes and Africa grew as much as 5.7% to 2.1 million tonnes.
In terms of individual airports, the world’s busiest cargo airport, Memphis, home to FedExExpress, saw a 3.8% drop to 3.69 million tonnes last year. Hong Kong declined 3% to 3.66 milliontonnes, while Shanghai grew 1.7% to 2.6 million tonnes. All other top ten cargo airports saw lowerfreight volumes, including a 5% fall at Louisville, home to UPS Airlines.
