Global air cargo demand is expected to grow by more than 1 percent in 2013, but it is not enough to make up for the 2 percent decline it will post in 2012, according to the latest forecast by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
The airfreight market is seen to grow by 1.4 percent next year, although the expansion will be insufficient to address looming excess capacity and arrest a yield decline estimated at 1.5 percent.
In 2012, cargo yields will be down 2 percent from 2011 levels, IATA said in a December 13 release.
With global economic growth expected to strengthen only slightly to 2.3 percent, Tony Tyler, IATA’s director general and CEO, described the year ahead as “another tough one for the industry,” as ocean freight will be increasingly favored over airfreight.
For Asia-Pacific carriers, the region this year was under pressure from weak cargo markets and slower economic growth in China, but with Asian economies being the most dynamic, “the deterioration in cargo markets is expected to come to an end in 2013,” said the IATA.
Threats to the global industry outlook for 2013 involve macro-economic, geopolitical, and policy risks, including the unresolved eurozone crisis, the danger of a U.S. fiscal cliff, and the geopolitical difficulties between China and Japan.
Photo: Ack Ook
