WorldACD: Volumes keep soaring through August

By all metrics, air cargo enjoyed another great month in August with a 12.9 percent year-over-year increase in volumes for the month alongside even higher direct tonne kilometer (DTK) growth of 14.6 percent, with WorldACD noting the average distance between origin and destination points for airfreight shipments continues to grow. Transport of pharmaceuticals and high-tech and other vulnerable goods grew particularly quickly during the month.

Growth in shipments originating in the Asia-Pacific region – which accounts for 25 percent of cargo by volume and 30 percent by revenue in U.S. dollars – pushed up August numbers. Of particular note in the region, growth across the board in shipments from Vietnam led to an increase of more than 25 percent in cargo volumes from that country y-o-y in August.

In Europe, Belgium also saw an increase of about 25 percent thanks to pharmaceutical transport. Other countries that saw significant growth include Hong Kong, Germany, parts of China, Japan, Korea, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

North America saw growth of more than 15 percent y-o-y generally, although domestic air cargo in the region grew only slightly. Africa posted a volume decrease of 4 percent as market share was instead captured by European and Middle Eastern origins.