Worldwide air freight returned to normal growth rates in March with a 1.6% rise after the exceptional 12.2% increase in February that largely resulted from the labour dispute at US West Coast ports.
Freight performance over the first quarter of the year indicated year-on-year growth of 5.3%, measured in FTKs, IATA said this week. This was in line with general global economic trends and slightly higher than the 4.5% growth that was anticipated in IATA’s December outlook.
International air freight was 1.7% higher in March and up by 5.8% over the first three months of the year.
“The air cargo industry is on a solid but unspectacular growth trend. And there is little evidence today that would point towards an acceleration as the year goes on,” said Tony Tyler, IATA’s Director General and CEO.
The regional growth picture remains highly mixed, the international airline association said. Latin American and European carriers reported market contractions while Middle East carriers showed rapid growth.
Asia-Pacific carriers reported FTK growth of 2.0% in March compared to March 2014 while capacity expanded 3.9%. This appearance of a sharp slowdown from the February rate of 20.5% is a reflection of the impact of Lunar New Year and the US West Coast port strike, IATA pointed out.
European carriers declined 2.4% in March, compared to a year ago while capacity rose 2.3%. North American airlines reported growth of 0.8% year-on-year even though capacity fell 3.1%. Middle Eastern carriers saw FTKs grow by 10.6%, fuelled by network and capacity expansion, but capacity grew 17.1%, pushing down load factors.
Latin American airlines reported a fall of 6.4% in year-on-year FTKs while capacity expanded 3.3%. The key economies of Brazil and Argentina continue to struggle, and a general increase in regional trade activity is yet to carry over into stronger air freight demand. IATA noted.
African airlines experienced a 2.4% increase in FTKs and capacity rose 0.5%. The region has posted solid growth in Q1 2015, indicating that regional trade is holding up well, despite the under-performance of the Nigerian and South African economies, according to IATA.
Longer-term, IATA called on governments to work in partnership to remove barriers to trade. “The growth in air cargo markets has shifted down a gear. World trade and air cargo are still growing, but only in line with industrial production. Removing barriers to trade in line with the World Trade Organization (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) would deliver a much needed boost to the global economy,” said Tyler. The World Economic Forum estimates that the WTO TFA could boost the global economy by as much as $1 trillion.
