Tuesday, 12 January 2016

Air freight: African carriers record decline in market-IATA


According to data released by The International Air Transport Association (IATA), it shows that Africa is not doing so well in demand but up in capacity despite the key players’ (Nigeria and South Africa) under performance. “African carriers experienced a fall in demand of 6.0%, and capacity rose by 6.6%. Africa remains one of only three regions (with Asia-Pacific and Middle East) to record positive year-to-date growth for 2015. Demand is holding up despite the underperformance of Nigeria and South Africa.”
For global air freight markets, it  shows that  air cargo volumes (measured in Freight Tonne Kilometers) were down 1.2% in November 2015, compared to November 2014. Total cargo volumes, however, expanded compared to October 2015, and were higher than the low point in August. This indicates that the decline in cargo demand may be bottoming out.

The negative year-on-year comparisons occurred across all regions with the exception of the Middle East. Of the major markets that together comprise more than 80% of total trade, Europe was down 2.0%, North America by 3.2%, and Asia-Pacific by 1.5%. The comparative weakness in these regions was driven largely because the performance in November 2014 was very strong. Latin American and African markets also fell, by 6.4% and 6.0% respectively. The Middle East region posted 5.4% growth.


"The freight performance in November was a mixed bag. Although the headline growth rate fell again, and the global economic outlook remains fragile, it appears that parts of Asia-Pacific are growing again and globally, export orders are looking better. In fact, the downward trend in FTK volumes appears to be bottoming out. But there is a great deal of uncertainty. The current volatility of stock markets shows how much the health of the global economy – upon which air cargo depends - remains on a knife-edge," said Tony Tyler, IATA’s Director General and CEO.

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