Business confidence in the global airline industry remains strong, according to the International Air Transport Association (Iata) quarterly survey in July, and there are similar positive sentiments in SA, according to Chris Zweigenthal, CEO of the Airlines Association of SA. As the survey found in the global market, the passenger market in this country continues to outperform cargo, he told FTW. “Although the cargo market is ready to turn the corner, it hasn’t as yet moved as well as the passenger market.” According to Iata survey responses on recent past traffic volumes, respondents foresee growth in both businesses over the next 12 months. The same applies to SA, according to Zweigenthal, although this country’s cargo business has not yet performed as well as that of the overall global cargo trade. The business confidence in Africa generally, he added, is fairly positive. But in SA, the rather sluggish gross domestic product growth of only 2.25% is a dampening factor. “SA has been a bit of an anomaly,” said Zweigenthal. “In Europe and around the world things have got better since March. But not so in SA. There has been pretty slack growth in cargo in the first half of this year.” But he believes that cargo is still going to turn that corner this year. “I expect a return to growth in the third and fourth quarters,” said Zweigenthal
