The international freight market dropped 3.8% in August from the same month last year, but was an improvement from the 1.8% decline reported in July, according to latest data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
Passenger volume rose 4.5% over August 2011.
Comparing the July and August figures, IATA director general Tony Tyler said, “The industry has shifted gears downward.”
He added, “Global freight markets are showing clear signs of decline… The pace of growth in passenger markets has dipped and the freight business is now shrinking at a faster pace. With business and consumer confidence continuing to slump globally there is not a lot of optimism for improved conditions any time soon.”
During the second half of 2010, Tyler pointed out that the weakness in air freight represented a loss of market share to other transport modes while in 2011, air freight reflected the lack of growth in overall world trade volumes. This latest decline shows a further deterioration in global economic conditions, he said.
The decline in freight has been most prominent in the largest markets, particularly North American carriers that reported a 7% decline in cargo volume for August followed by carriers in Asia-Pacific with 5.4% and Europe, 1.8%.
Only airlines operating in Africa, Latin America and the Middle East posted positive figures of 2.2%, 5.4% and 3.7%, respectively.
In the passage market, European airlines achieved the strongest growth with a 7.9% increase while Middle Eastern carriers recorded the second highest demand growth at 6.7%.
North American carriers reported the weakest performance with growth of just 2.9% while Asia-Pacific carriers reported 5.3% demand growth for August.
Latin American carriers reported 5.6% growth for August and African carriers reported 5.2% demand growth.
Photo by LHOON
