air cargo

Airports saw airfreight volumes increase by 0.5 per cent during the first half of the year as demand was affected by subdued growth in emerging markets and developing economies and a modest recovery in advanced economies, reports Air Cargo News.

Figures from Airports Council International (ACI) show the 0.5 per cent growth rate in global freight volumes comprised a 0.3 per cent increase in international freight and 1 per cent in domestic freight on an annualised basis.

“The lacklustre performance of global industrial activity and trade due to China's economic transition, the weak growth of the Japanese economy and the weaker-than-expected growth of the US, combined with recessions in Brazil and Russia, have all had a negative impact on air freight markets,” ACI said.

Three regions saw cargo demand at airports decline during the first half: North America, Latin America-Caribbean and Africa reported freight traffic losses of 2.1 per cent, 0.9 per cent and 0.1 per cent respectively.

Asia-Pacific and Europe reported freight traffic growth of 1 per cent and 2.3 per cent respectively, while the Middle East grew by 4.5 per cent over the course of the first six months in 2016.

In the Asia Pacific region, total airfreight traffic picked up at 5.9 per cent in June 2016, surpassing the year-to-date figure of 1 per cent.

China, accounting for over a third of air freight traffic in the region, grew 3.9 per cent in total freight.

In Japan — the second largest airfreight market in the region — airfreight at major commercial airports dropped 2.7 per cent during the first half of 2016.

Hong Kong saw a 0.8 per cent fall in international freight, while India posted a robust 9.6 per cent increase.

Korea posted 0.4 per cent increase in total airfreight while Malaysia and Indonesia saw traffic declines of 18.5 per cent and 8.8 per cent respectively on a year-to-date basis.

In Europe, total airfreight traffic grew 1.7 per cent in June 2016, which was slightly below the year-to-date figure of 2.3 per cent.

The three largest airfreight markets in the region were Germany, the UK and France. They reported growth of 1.9 per cent, 3.6 per cent and 3.6 per cent respectively during the first six months of 2016. Turkey reported sharp 12.4 per cent decline rate in airfreight traffic at its major commercial airports.