International air freight continued to drop further by 4.7 per cent last month on the slowing worldeconomy while passenger traffic rose 3.6 per cent over previous year levels, according to IATA’s
latest monthly traffic results released today.“Cargo is the story of the month. Since mid-year, the market has shrunk by almost 5 per centand this is far greater than the 1 per cent fall in world trade. Air freight is among the firstsectors to suffer when businesses confidence declines,” said Tony Tyler, IATA’s Director Generaland CEO. “While business confidence has declined considerably in recent months, industrial outputhas not. But in anticipation of weaker economic activity, there is a shift to cheaper and slowermodes of transport.”
IATA explained that the confidence of purchasing managers in the manufacturing sector hasfallen to its lowest level since 2009. “This loss of confidence appears to have caused shippers toswitch some transport needs to slower and cheaper sea options to the detriment of air freight whichshowed a 4.7 per cent decline in October compared to the previous year.” In response to weakerdemand, airlines have cut their freighter fleet.
In regional terms, Asia-Pacific carriers recorded the highest freight load factor with 58.8per cent which is 12.3 per cent above the global average of 46.5 per cent. IATA said this is aresult of strong outward flows of freight from Asia which dominates the air cargo business.Asia-Pacific carriers account for about 40 per cent of global freight markets and while they arethe most exposed to the volatility of freight volumes, they are still benefiting from the dominanceof trade flows to Asia. However, they were still hit with a 7.5 per cent decline in demand comparedto October 2010 while their international traffic dropped 8.2 per cent.
European carriers also recorded a contraction in overall demand of 4 per cent, similar toNorth American carriers with a 5 per cent decline. In contrast, international traffic in the MiddleEast was 3.1 per cent higher, while Latin American carriers reported a strong increase ininternational freight of 7.4 per cent which was even surpassed by African airlines with an 8.6 percent rise.
“As we enter the year-end period, we are reminded of the vital role that aviation plays inour globalised world,” Tyler said. He urged policy makers to reflect on aviation’s significantsocial and economic benefits. “Aviation supports 33 million jobs and trillions of dollars ofeconomic activity are supported by air transport’s connectivity. This year, more than 2.8 billionpeople and 46 million tonnes of cargo are expected to be transported by safe and efficient airlinks.”
Looking ahead, Tyler underlined the uncertain economic prospects for 2012. “But the trackrecord of aviation’s ability to act as a catalyst for economic activity is rock-solid. Now is thetime for governments to use aviation strategically in their efforts to put economies back on track.Implementing a Single European Sky, delivering NextGen air traffic management in the US andsupporting the commercialisation of sustainable biofuels for aviation are examples of governmentaction that would generate jobs, improve environmental performance and help secure the industry’slong-term success and economic benefits,” he concluded.
