IATA reports only 2.1% air freight traffic growth for July

Despite reports from carriers, airports, ground handlers, and the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) indicating a rebound in air freight traffic growth rates during July, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) recorded a significant slowdown in year-over-year growth for the month, at only 2.1%. IATA attributed the slower growth to a number of factors, […]

• Caryn Livingston
• August 29, 2018

IATA expects slowing freight traffic as demand falls

In its second quarter Cargo Chartbook today, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) declared that the best of the upturn in air freight traffic is past, as traffic in freight tonne kilometers (FTKs) rose by only 4.0% year-over-year during the three months ended April. The positive air freight performance during 2017 was supported by overall […]

• Caryn Livingston
• June 28, 2018

Demand growth strengthens in April

When the world’s big cargo carriers, airports, and handlers began reporting their April results, it appeared that while year-over-year growth in demand for air freight would probably be a little higher than the 1.7% IATA reported for March, it would not be by much. But as results continued to come in from some of the […]

• David Harris
• May 30, 2018

Demand flattens and yields soar in March… Or maybe not

Two weeks ago, when we looked at the March air freight data from some of the early-reporting major carriers, airports, and handlers, it was clear that, for most of the world, demand growth had dwindled to almost nothing. The exception was three big carriers from the Americas – United, Delta, and LATAM – all of […]

• David Harris
• May 2, 2018

Demand growth falls in March

March data from some of the world’s big cargo carriers, airports, and handlers paint a mixed picture. On the whole, it seems safe to say that the rate of growth in air freight demand is dropping back to earth from the double-digit percentages we saw over the last sixteen months, but this comes with two […]

• David Harris
• April 16, 2018

The wild card in the air freight game

Two weeks ago, when we analyzed the February results from some of the world’s big cargo carriers, we concluded that, once full worldwide data were available, we would see a fall-off in demand growth from January to February, and that the combined two-month growth would be below the double-digit percentages we saw last year, but […]

• David Harris
• April 4, 2018

Demand grows in Hong Kong and Singapore

When we published our first look at February cargo demand last week there were still a few of the major players to be heard from – Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific Airlines, and Hong Kong International Airport in Asia; and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in Europe. All four of those laggards have now published their February data, […]

• David Harris
• March 20, 2018

February results show that 2018 is off to a strong start

As we  pointed out last month, air freight demand growth statistics for January must be treated with considerable skepticism. The variable timing of the Chinese New Year holiday can push traffic that would normally move in January to February, or vice versa. Therefore, it makes sense to wait for the February data before reaching any […]

• David Harris
• March 14, 2018

2018 starts with strong demand – what about Chinese New Year?

As we always point out at this time of year, air freight demand growth statistics for January must be treated with considerable skepticism. The variable timing of the Chinese New Year holiday can push traffic that would normally move in January to February, or vice versa. Therefore, it makes sense to wait for the February […]

• David Harris
• February 15, 2018

December 2017: Strong demand, but slower growth

Although demand for air freight remained strong through November 2017, beginning in September 2017, the year-over-year rate of demand growth began to fall from the double-digit heights achieved in the first eight months of the year as the tougher comparisons of late 2016 began to kick in. This trend continued into December. Early reports from […]

• Charles Kauffman
• January 17, 2018