Middle East and Africa buck trend of fall in air freight volumes

Middle East carriers experienced the strongest growth with demand expanding by 10.8 per cent and capacity rising 18.3 per cent. Paul Thomas / Bloomberg

The Middle East and Africa bucked a global trend for air freight in July, data from The International Air Transport Association (Iata) show.

Overall air freight volumes measured in freight tonne kilometres (FTK) fell 0.6 per cent on the same month last year, in line with weaker global economic growth.

However, Middle East carriers experienced the strongest growth with demand expanding by 10.8 per cent and capacity rising 18.3 per cent.

African airlines had growth in demand of 3.6 per cent, while capacity rose by 11.4 per cent. In contrast to Latin America, the strong regional trade performance in the region has underpinned solid air freight growth, despite the underperformance of the Nigerian and South African economies, Iata said.

The most pronounced falls were in the Americas, where international FTK volumes were down more than 5 per cent compared to July 2014. Asia-Pacific carriers had a fall in FTKs of 1.9 per cent in July compared to the same month last year, and capacity expanded 5.3 per cent.

“The recent stock-market turmoil shows that investors have real fears about the strength of the global economy,” said Tony Tyler, Iata’s director general and chief executive. “The disappointing July freight performance is symptomatic of a broader slowdown in economic growth. The combination of China’s continued shift towards domestic markets, wider weakness in emerging markets and slowing global trade indicates that it will continue to be a rough ride for air cargo in the months to come.”

The FTKs for Asia-Pacific carriers fell by 1.9 per cent in July compared with July 2014, and capacity expanded 5.3 per cent. The region has experienced notable declines in imports and exports during this year, with Chinese manufacturing particularly struggling.

North American airlines experienced a decline of 3.7 per cent year on year and capacity grew 5.4 per cent.

Latin American airlines reported a fall in demand of 5.1 per cent year on year, and capacity expanded 3.2 per cent. Regional trade activity, Brazil and Argentina excepted, was very solid in the first half of 2015, but this did not feed through into stronger demand for air freight.

European carriers reported a fall in demand in June of 1.5 per cent compared with a year ago and capacity rose 3.9 per cent. Central and eastern Europe has had an especially tough few months, with trade in this region falling about 10 per cent since the end of the first quarter, Iata said.

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