Solid growth trend for air cargo

The air cargo industry is entering 2015 propelled by a solid growth trend, according to the International Air Transport Association (Iata). November 2014 data for global air freight markets, released by Iata last week, shows that demand measured in freight tonne kilometres (FTK) grew 4.2% compared to November 2013. Capacity grew by 3.3% over the previous November. Compared to October 2014, air freight demand expanded by a healthy 0.8%. According to Iata, the most significant growth was recorded by carriers in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions, at 5.9% and 12.9%, respectively. “More goods are being traded internationally and that is fuelling the growth in air freight. This year we expect air freight markets to expand by 4.5%, outpacing projected growth in world trade (4.0%). But that optimism is tempered by the many macro-economic and political risks that continue to impact trade flows,” said Tony Tyler, Iata director general and CEO. Africa’s FTKs grew by 10.5%, maintaining the positive trend of previous months. Load factors also improved as capacity was trimmed by 2.9%.