International air cargo volumes continue growing in January

Worldwide air cargo volumes rose strongly in January following positive results in December 2009with total freight showing double-digit growth of nearly 25%, the latest monthly figures from

In January, international freight experienced the strongest growth of 33.7% against a relativelymoderate increase in domestic freight with 10.6% compared to January 2009. Worldwide freighttraffic showed an overall increase of 24.7%.

The association’s monthly FreightFlash survey, covering airports representing about 70% ofworldwide tonnage, reported positive performance figures for almost all regions (except LatinAmerica- Caribbean and European domestic traffic) in January 2010. Airports in Asia Pacific andMiddle East even topped global results with remarkable growth of 43% and 29% respectively.

“Keeping in mind that January 2009 showed the sharpest declines in freight traffic last year,January 2010 appears to be profiting from increasing stabilisation of world production markets.Tonnage rose sharply at several key hubs including Abu Dhabi (+26%), Bangkok (+46%), Dubai (+32%),Hong Kong (+43%), Incheon (+38%), Shanghai (+82%), Sharjah (+50%), Singapore (+21%), Taipei (+90%),Tel Aviv (+18%) and Tokyo Narita (+45%),” ACI said in a statement.

At a regional level, airports in Asia Pacific saw the biggest increase of 43.3% in freighttonnage in January with domestic volumes up 34.7% and international traffic up by 46.6%. Stronggains were made at several major Asia Pacific hubs (Bangkok, Beijing, Guangzhou, Incheon, Jakarta,Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Mumbai, Narita, New Delhi, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney) but also at middletier airports, notably in India and China.

Similar to Asia Pacific, the Middle East soared with a 28.8% rise in freight traffic in January,with international traffic also up by 28.8%. International traffic was the driver for excellentresults at almost all regional airports with volumes rising in Dubai (+17%), Abu Dhabi (+11%) andTel Aviv (+21%).

European airports also reported a strong increase in freight volumes of 21.6% in January withinternational freight up 22.9%. Only domestic volumes were down by 3.5%.

In Latin America, volumes rose more moderately, but still at double-digit rates, with 14.1% inJanuary and international freight up 26.1%. But domestic freight was down 7%.

In North America, total air freight increased at a slightly lower pace by 8.2% in January.Domestic traffic was 2% higher while international volumes soared 24.9%.