IATA Sees Slight Fall in July Air Freight, Overall Weak Trend
July air freight volume was 3.2% lower than a year ago but unchanged compared to June, said the International Air Transport Association. Much of the decline was due to comparison with last July's relatively strong growth rate, but “overall the…
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trend in air freight is weak, in line with subdued world traffic growth,” it said. Middle East carriers had a 16% increase in demand over last year, but all other markets experienced declines and the small recovery seen since the end of 2011 has stagnated, it said. Asia-Pacific carriers had a 7.6% drop in demand compared to last year, the steepest drop for any region, although capacity dipped by only 4.3%, it said. Asia-Pacific carriers have seen virtually no growth in freight traffic since Q4 2011, it said. European airlines had a 3.6% decline with a 0.9% rise in capacity, and have seen only a 1% rise in demand since Q4 2011, it said. North American airlines experienced a 3.6% drop, matching a similar reduction in capacity. Load factor was the lowest for any region at 32.3%, it said. Demand fell by 5.6% for Latin American air carriers, while capacity climbed 13.9%. Results for African carriers weren’t available. The Middle Eastern airlines' 16% rise in traffic came on an 11% boost in capacity, IATA said. Airlines have responded to slower growth by reducing the capacity added to markets, which has stabilized load factors at relatively high levels and helped profitability in the face of high fuel prices, it said.