Airports see cargo bounce back slightly in June

Air cargo bounced back at airports around the world in June with a slight overall 1%year-on-year increase but volume trends remained very mixed from region to region, with a recovery

ACI’s 1% rise, including a 1.5% increase for international volumes and stagnant domesticvolumes, was in line with IATA’s figure of a 0.8% year-on-year increase in air freight demand inJune.

Over the first half of this year, freight traffic remained relatively sluggish with businessconfidence in a fragile state and tonnage declined by 1.1%, the airports organisation reported.IATA put the January-June volume decline (in RTKs) at 2.1%.

ACI World’s Economics Director Rafael Echevarne commented: “Whilst overall growth is relativelyuniform and stable across passenger markets from month to month, the freight market is moreheterogeneous across various regions. Burgeoning markets in the Middle East and LatinAmerica-Caribbean are less encumbered by the slowdown that is sweeping across other regions. Thoughthe economic outlook is ominous for many major economies, emerging markets continue to be fuelledby their strong domestic demand and persevere despite these downside risks.”

At a regional level, leading freight hubs in Asia rebounded from several months of trafficdeclines and recorded positive growth in June. The region’s airports saw volumes rise 1.7% in themonth, leaving half-year figures down by 1% year-on-year. International freight rose 1%, resultingin a 1.3% fall from January to June. Domestic freight performed better with 4.5% growth in themonth.

Hong Kong, the world’s largest cargo airport, enjoyed a 4.1% rise in volumes in June, leavinghalf-year volumes flat. The growth “was primarily due to an 8% year-on-year growth in imports.During June, cargo throughput to and from South East Asia outperformed other key regions”, theairport authority stated.

In Europe, airports saw volumes grow by 0.6% in June, with international tonnage up 1.1%.Half-year volumes were down 3.7%, with international freight 3.3% lower, according to ACIfigures.

Frankfurt Airport, the continent’s largest cargo airport, saw volumes drop 3.4% in June, leavinghalf-year volumes down 9.8%, due to the combination of global economic uncertainty, the Europeandebt crisis and the airport’s night flight ban, Fraport stated. In July, volumes declined by 7.6%due to the same factors.

In North America, many key freight hubs continued to experience declines in traffic, ACI noted.Although Memphis (MEM), North America’s major freight airport, achieved growth of +3% in June,eight of the top ten major freight airports in the United States saw declines in traffic. Overall,airports in North America recorded a 1.5% drop in June volumes, with a slight 0.6% rise ininternational tonnage. 

The Middle East and Latin America were the main growth regions in June. In the Middle East,airports enjoyed a 9.2% boom in volumes, leaving January-June tonnage up 4.4%. Dubai InternationalAirport increased volumes by 6.3% in June and recorded 2.2% growth for the first half of 2012,while the smaller Dubai World Central increased half-year volumes by 226% as more airlines launchedcargo flights there.

“Dubai Airports’ total cargo volumes are expected to top 4 million tonnes by 2020 and anincreasing portion of that growth is expected to spill over to DWC. Right now we are seeingtremendous incremental growth as airlines come to recognise the many advantages that DWC offersthem,” said Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports. “The airport’s proximity to and bonded roadconnection with the free zone and port at Jebel Ali and the easy availability of take-off andlanding slots are very attractive propositions for cargo carriers,” he added.

In Latin America, airport cargo volumes were 3.7% higher in June and up by 1.8% in the first sixmonths of the year, driven by strong domestic growth which outweighed lower international volumes,ACI figures showed.