Air freight carriers from Asia-Pacific posted the biggest decline for November 2011 with a 6.4 percent demand drop, as global traffic results for the month showed that air cargo markets remained weak compared to levels attained earlier in the year, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced.
Air freight markets continued their decline in line with weak economic performance and falling business confidence. They performed 3.1 percent below November 2010 levels despite a 1.1 percent increase on October 2011 performance.
“Weak global economic performance is being reflected in air transport markets. Freight markets have contracted some 4% compared to January. Continuing economic uncertainty will likely mean market shortcomings deepening as we enter 2012,” said Tony Tyler, IATA’s director general and CEO.
International freight load factors have declined 6 percentage points from their peak in mid-2010, the IATA said in a December 30, 2011 press statement.
Asia-Pacific carriers saw the weakest demand performance for November with a 6.4 percent market decline that IATA said was driven by falling demand for Asian- manufactured goods from U.S. and European consumers.
European carriers reported a 4.6 percent fall in demand, reflecting continued uncertainty associated with the eurozone crisis. North American carriers’ operations were largely unchanged from the previous year with only 0.2 percent growth.
The Middle East and Latin American carriers delivered the strongest cargo performance with 4.6 percent and 4 percent growth, respectively. African carriers reported a 1.7 percent year-on-year decline.
IATA estimates a collective profit of $6.9 billion and a net margin of 1.2 percent for the airline industry in 2011. It forecasts that this will fall to $3.5 billion in 2012 (0.6 percent net margin). But the association has warned that the downside risk of the eurozone crisis failing to be resolved could lead to losses in excess of $8 billion.
