Air freight posted low growth in 2015 according to annual figures released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and market data specialist WorldACD.
IATA said global traffic, measured in freight tonne kilometers (FTKs) increased by 2.2% last year compared to 5% growth in 2014. The Geneva-based trade body attributed the slower pace of growth in 2015 to "sluggish trade growth in Europe and Asia-Pacific."
It added: "After a strong start, air freight volumes began a decline that continued through most of 2015, until some improvements to world trade drove a modest pick-up late in the year.
“Cargo in Asia-Pacific, accounting for around 39% of freight traffic, expanded by a moderate 2.3%. The key markets of Europe and North America, which between them comprise around 43% of total cargo traffic, were basically flat in 2015. Latin America suffered a steep decline (-6.0%) while the Middle East grew strongly, up 11.3%. Africa also saw modest growth of 1.2%.
"The freight load factor (FLF) was at times the lowest for some years, falling to an average 44.1% compared to 45.7% in 2014, driven down by weak demand and capacity expansion."
Commenting on the results, IATA’s Director General and CEO, Tony Tyler, said: “2015 was another very difficult year for air cargo. Growth has slowed and revenue is falling. In 2011 air cargo revenue peaked at $67 billion. In 2016 we are not expecting revenue to exceed $51 billion. Efficiency gains are critical as the sector adjusts to shortening global supply chains and evermore competitive market conditions.
"We have to adjust to the ‘new normal’ of cargo growing in line with general rates of economic expansion. The industry is moving forward with an e-freight transformation that will modernise processes and improve the value proposition. The faster the industry can make that happen, the better."
WorldACD's figures for air freight worldwide show that year-on-year (YoY) volume in 2015 increased by "a meagre 2%, which would have been even lower had our industry not had a windfall on the Transpacific in Q1 of 2015 (due to the US west coast ports strike)," it underlines.
This compared to YoY volume growth of 6% in 2014, coupled with a drop in yield of 2.5%.
"What a difference a year makes: we hardly see any growth in the business, but unit income and unit cost changed considerably. Worldwide, yield – measured in US$ – fell by a whopping 15% YoY. However, the impact of that remarkable drop has yet to be established, as the cost of fuel decreased dramatically over the year, to the point where even consumers of fuel begin to worry about the disruptive effect this price fall may have on economies at large.
"Worldwide growth dwindled from one quarter to the next: from 4% in Q1 via 2.5% in Q2, it petered out to a mere 1% volume increase in both Q3 and Q4. One bit of consolation, though: the December month saw an uptick of 2.1% in volume YoY, combined with a MoM decrease in USD-yield in line with the regular December pattern."
WorldACD said the 2015 pattern in the various origin regions was varied. "The Americas showed negative growth for the year as a whole, whilst Asia Pacific entered this danger territory in the last quarter only. Africa just stayed in the positive figures, whilst the Middle East and South Asia (MESA) showed up-and-down growth across the four quarters.
"But it was Europe that really bucked the worldwide trend: from a growth of 1.1% in Q1, via growth varying from 3% to 4% in Q2 and Q3, it finished the year strongly with a 6% growth in the last quarter," WorldACD added.
