Freight demand finds solid floor

Freight demand appears to have found a solid floor with a fifth consecutive month at more than 20% below previous year levels. That’s according to the latest International Air Transport Association (Iata) traffic data for April, revealing a 21.7% fall in cargo demand compared to April 2008. “We are not out of the woods yet,” said Giovanni Bisignani, Iata’s director general and CEO. “The demand improvements that we saw in April were welcome but freight remains at shockingly low levels. The worst may be over but we have not yet seen any signs that recovery is imminent,” he said. While business confidence is improving, inventories remain high. And until inventories adjust to more normal levels, airfreight volumes are likely to continue to bounce along the bottom. Carriers in all regions showed double digit declines with Middle Eastern carriers the strongest performers at -11.1% and Latin American carriers the worst at -24.2%. African carriers came in at -18.8%.