Global airfreight markets last year recorded the worst results in a decade measured in freight tonne kilometres (FTKs), according to figures released by the International Air Transport Association (Iata).
Demand fell by 3.3% compared to 2018 while capacity (AFTK) rose by 2.1%. This was the first year of declining freight volumes since 2012, and the weakest performance since the global financial crisis in 2009 (when air freight markets contracted by 9.7%), according to Iata.
In the month of December, cargo volumes contracted 2.7% year-on-year while capacity rose 2.8%.
Weak growth in global trade of just 0.9% and a particularly slow slowing GDP growth in manufacturing-intensive economies were partly to blame.
Iata’s director-general and CEO, Alexandre de Juniac, believes there are signs that confidence and orders could pick up in 2020. “It is however too early to say what long-term effects will be seen from the impact of restrictions associated with combatting the coronavirus outbreak,” he added.
On a regional basis, African carriers performed well with freight demand increasing by 10.3% in December 2019, compared to the same month in 2018. This was reflected in the strong 2019 full-year performance, which saw freight volumes in the region expand 7.4%.
