Middle Eastern carriers reported an increase in freight volumes in November as demand grew.
The volumes rose 7.8 per cent during the month year-on-year, according to the International Air Transport Association (Iata) trade body. At the same time, cargo capacity in the region increased by 5.1 per cent. In October, air freight demand for Middle Eastern carriers increased by 9.2 per cent year-on-year.
Globally, the cargo volumes rose 6.8 per cent in November year-on-year, slower than the 8.4 per cent growth year-on-year in October, when cargo volumes rose the steepest in 20 months.
Weak volumes between the Middle East and Asia, and the Middle East and Europe dragged on air cargo performance for the first 10 months of the year.
The volumes grew by 4 per cent on these routes during the period, compared with 8 to 11 per cent a year earlier.
Cargo capacity for Middle Eastern carriers, meanwhile, grew. In October, Emirates SkyCargo added a weekly freighter service to Oslo, Norway, with a capacity of 100 tonnes of cargo per flight. This is in addition to the 175 tonnes of belly hold capacity offered on the five weekly passenger flights to Oslo.
The growth in air cargo volumes in November is expected to hold ground.
“There are encouraging signs that this growth will to continue into 2017, particularly with the shipment of high-value consumer electronics and their component parts,” said Alexandre de Juniac, the director general and chief executive at Iata. “But the trend in world trade is still stagnant.”
Global economic growth is expected to recover to 3.4 per cent this year from 3.1 per cent last year, according to IMF in October.
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