Latest airfreight stats raise concerns for H2 2015

While African air cargo grew by 10.3% – driven by total freight traffic growth of 9.4% and 15.9% in Johannesburg (JNB) and Casablanca (CMN), respectively – total airfreight growth dropped by 1.3% in May, with half of the world’s top 30 air cargo hubs posting a monthly decrease.

The latest data from Airports Council International (ACI) shows that air cargo’s poor performance during May was in stark contrast to a “robust” 6.9% growth in passenger traffic for the same month.

“Robust growth in passenger traffic [in May] was led by Asia-Pacific and the Middle East, but on the other hand, weak growth in airfreight coupled with significant declines in major international airfreight hubs raises concerns about the second half of the year,” said ACI in a statement.

ACI figures show that Paris (CDG) and Miami (MIA) declined by a “substantial” 7.6% and 5.7%, respectively. It noted that other major freight hubs saw a decrease in May with Frankfurt (FRA) down 3.4%, Taipei (TPE) down 2.9%, Tokyo (NRT) down 2.7% and Bangkok (BKK) down 2.7%.

The Middle East is outpacing Asia-Pacific with 4.4% versus 1.6% growth in total freight, while North America and Latin America each show 1.1% growth in total freight traffic for May.