Air freight around the world grew just a fractional 0.2% in December on weak peak demand andended last year down 0.7%, figures released by IATA today showed, although the airline body claimed
there were initial signs of “stabilising” demand after months of declines during 2011.The numbers confirmed recent figures from major airports and airlines which indicated weakerthan usual pre-Christmas business, especially regarding trade flows from Asia to the rest of theworld.
International freight traffic (measured in FTKs) dropped 0.8% but domestic traffic was up 5.5%in the final month of 2011. Total traffic remained behind the worldwide 4.4% freight capacityincrease, leaving the month’s freight load factor at just 46.1%.
For 2011 as a whole, international air freight dropped 0.6% on capacity growth of 5.2%, whiledomestic traffic was 1.4% lower with a 0.2% capacity increase. The 0.7% overall freight trafficdecline for 2011 contrasted with a 4.1% rise in capacity, resulting in an annual average loadfactor of 45.9%, down from 48.1% in 2010.
Airlines in Asia/Pacific, the largest air freight market, suffered the most from weakeningdemand last year. They saw traffic drop 4.4% year-on-year in December, although this was a 2.1%rise on November, and ended the year down 4.6% in traffic terms.
European airlines achieved 2.3% year-on-year growth in December, which was 1.4% higher thanNovember, and closed 2011 with low growth of 1.3%. North American carriers also grew 2.3%year-on-year in December, which was a 4.7% rise on November, and which left them with 0.4% growthfor the full year.
The strongest growth rates were achieved in smaller regional markets. In the Middle East,airlines grew by a strong 10.7% year-on-year in December, pushing full-year growth up to 8.1%.Latin American airlines also did well with 2.3% growth in December and a 6% increase in the fullyear.
IATA commented that air freight markets turned up at the end of the year after shrinking throughmuch of the summer and autumn as business confidence across major economies, and export orders,slumped. “Surveys are now showing that business confidence, a leading indicator for changes incargo markets, turned up in December, suggesting that industrial production and international trademay be stabilising,” it declared.
Although international freight markets dropped in year-on-year comparisons, demand in Decemberwas 1.5% ahead of the level in November, IATA pointed out. Domestic demand was even 3.2% higherthan in November and 5.5% above December 2010. “Freight markets have now shown sequentialmonth-over-month growth in November and December, adding evidence to the view that internationaltrade may be stabilising,” the airline association commented.
Airline freight load factors declined considerably to 45.9% in 2011, as measures to matchcapacity with demand by reducing the freighter fleet have been offset by introduction of new twinaisle passenger aircraft, IATA also pointed out.
“Given the weak conditions in Western economies the passenger market held up well in 2011. Butoverall 2011 was a year of contrasts. Healthy passenger growth, primarily in the first half of theyear, was offset by a declining cargo market,” commented Tony Tyler, IATA’s Director General andCEO.
