International air cargo maintained its relative recovery in August with a year-on-year decline of9.6%, the first single-digit drop since last year, the latest airline traffic figures from the
International Air Transport Association (IATA) show.Over the first eight months of 2009, international air freight is down 18%. IATA currentlypredicts a full-year decline of 14.5% in 2009. For 2010 IATA’s industry outlook anticipates averageinternational freight growth of 5.5%, representing a slight recovery on 2009’s lower base figures.
Compared to the low point of December 2008, seasonally adjusted freight demand has improvedby 12%, but remains exceptionally weak at 16% below April 2008 levels when the fall in demandbegan, IATA commented.
All regions saw improved demand conditions in August compared to July. Asia Pacific carriers,representing 44% of the global freight market, saw year-on-year demand improve marginally from-9.5% to -9.0% in August compared to July. Traffic is now at -18.8% over the first eight months.
North American carriers saw a slightly larger improvement from -14.6% in July to -12.1% inAugust, leaving eight-month figures down by 20.3%.
In Europe, there was a similar month-on-month improvement from -16.2% in July to -14.5% inAugust. Traffic is 20% lower over the first eight months.
Latin American and Middle Eastern carriers were the only regions to report growth of 3.9% and3.0% respectively in August. African carriers saw the largest improvement – from -25.9% in July to-5.1% in August, although the region’s small market size exaggerates any shifts.
