Preliminary airport data from Airports Council International (ACI) points to around 3.7% globalair freight growth in the first half of 2014, including 4.5% growth of international and 1.8%
domestic growth, continuing and building upon the growth trend of the second half of last year.ACI figures suggest that for the 12 months to 30 June, the world’s airports achieved averageyear-on-year growth of 2.8% overall, with 3.2% for international and 1.7% for domestic traffic.This contrasts with full calendar year 2013 figures of just 0.7% for the world’s main airports lastyear, or 0.9% for international traffic.
IATA’s freight tonne kilometre (FTK) figures estimate global air freight in the first half of2014 at 4.1%, while WorldACD reports a slightly higher figure in terms of tonnage figuresthis year. Among the more than 50 airlines and their transactions with over 15,000 forwarders inthe WorldACD database, tonnage figures for the first six months of 2014 increased by 4.8%, yearover year (YoY), globally, completing 12 consecutive months of year-on-year global growth.
On a regional basis, ACI data indicates first-half growth of around 5% among Asia-Pacificairports. The world’s busiest international cargo airport, Hong Kong International, achieved cargovolume growth of 6.3% in the first half of 2014 to 2.1 million tonnes as demand for air freightcapacity to and from Greater China continued its revival. This followed 2.4% growth in 2013.
Japan’s air freight recovery also appears to be gaining strength as the country’s economy showssigns of finally returning to growth, with Tokyo Narita Airport achieving a traffic increase ofaround 9% in the first half of 2014 to almost 997,000 tonnes.
But the recovery has been less apparent in south-east Asia. Singapore’s Changi airport recordeda slight (0.6%) first-half increase in traffic to 910,000 tonnes this year, continuing its overallrelatively flat performance across last year as a whole, when volumes increased by 0.8% to 1.89million tonnes.
ACI data suggests average growth of around 4.5% at Europe’s airports. The continent’s busistcargo airport, Frankfurt, reported first-half cargo throughput (airfreight and airmail) up by just2.2% to 1.1 million metric tonnes, although cargo through Amsterdam Airport Schiphol increased 8.8%for the first six months to more than 801,000 tonnes.
Cargo volume at London Heathrow increased 4.1% to 726,000 tonnes in the first six months of2014, but Italy’s Malpensa topped the table for European growth in the first half of 2014 with anincrease of 12%. This followed growth of 3.8% in 2013 to 430,000 tonnes, thanks to a continuousrecovery since the second half of last year.
Luxembourg airport also saw strong growth in the first half of 2014, with the airport achievinga year-on-year increase of almost 9% to around 345,000 tonnes.
But Europe’s main integrator airports, Leipzig, Cologne, Liege (and Paris CDG), have averagedrelatively low single-digit growth this year as the integrators have limited capacity expansion inresponse to the switch in demand towards “deferred express” services – some of which can be carriedusing third-party commercial airline capacity – while demand for priority express services hasremained relatively flat.
For example, Germany’s Leipzig-Halle Airport, the global air express hub for DHL Express,handled 442,000 tonnes between January and June, a growth rate of just 0.9%, year on year.
First-half 2014 figures for North America suggest growth of 2.3% for the region’s airports,consisting of 5.1% internationally and just 0.5% domestically. However, the region’s main airportsshow considerable variation.
First-half volumes through LAX were flat at 951,000 tonnes, whereas Chicago O’Hare reported an8.5% first-half increase to 738,000 tonnes and Dallas Fort Worth reported a 5% increase to almost335,000 tonnes. Miami, meanwhile, saw volumes increase 1.9% to 936,000 tonnes.
Miami’s relatively low growth reflects the performance of airports and airlines in LatinAmerica, where the region’s carriers saw “disappointing” demand, with first-half cargo volumesdeclining by 0.1% – the only region to be in decline in the first half of this year. IATA said thiswas due to sluggish trade growth and in particular the weakness of the Brazilian economy.
ACI recorded airports in its Latin America-Caribbean region averaging 0.4% growth in the firstsix months of this year.
Meanwhile, Middle East carriers have continued to expand strongly, with first-half air cargovolumes up 10% as airlines in the region capitalise on growth opportunities by expanding servicesto fast-growing emerging markets such as Uganda and Mexico, IATA reports. Capacity expanded 8.6%,year on year.
African carriers achieved average growth of 3.1% in the first half, affected by a slowdown insome African economies, notably South Africa, although ACI’s FreightFlash snapshot of globalairport freight volumes suggests that the region’s airports saw a 2.3% decline in the first sixmonths of this year. Improving trade data, however, points to a more optimistic outlook for Africafor the rest of the year, IATA believes.
