Trade rebound pushes up airfreight volumes

The strong rebound in world trade has translated into higher airfreight volumes – with growth of over 28% year-onyear in January, according to International Air Transport Association statistics. However, the level of the market is still 3-4% below where it was in early 2008. Air travel also rose at a more modest pace of just over 6% in January. “This is a solid post-recession upturn in demand but it remains very uneven geographically, with strong emerging market growth but sluggish developed economy markets,” says Iata. In terms of capacity, both passenger and freight capacity are now growing once more, having shrunk substantially since mid-2008. By January freight capacity was up 3.7% on the year – with increases concentrated in Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Latin America. After these increases, the size of passenger capacity on international markets is still 4% below early 2008 levels, while freight capacity is 8% smaller.