Cargo demand continues to strengthen

IATA                      CARGO

Global - Demand for air cargo freight grew 28.1% in March from a year earlier, but industry players should prepare for a volcano-related dip in April, IATA said.

Compared to February, cargo demand grew 26.3%.

"March results show that the pace of the upturn is strong, but the trauma of the recession is not over. The industry has lost two years of growth, and passenger and freight markets are still 1% below early 2008 highs. Nonetheless, the pace of improvement, based on an improving global economic situation, is much faster than anybody would have expected even six months ago," said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA's director general and CEO.

International freight markets are experiencing tighter supply and demand conditions, the IATA said. The 28.1% improvement in demand outpaced the 5.3% capacity expansion in March. This drove freight load factors to 57.1%, the highest since November 2002 when international freight load factors stood at 58.8%.

Export and import volumes are strong in emerging economies in Asia, recording a 34.1% increase during the month. European carriers showed the weakest improvement in freight demand at 11.7%, due largely to the slow economic recovery in the region.

The strong traffic recovery is expected to show a dip in April as a result of the volcanic eruption in Iceland that saw the shutdown of airspace for six days.

"European carriers were already showing the weakest recovery from the financial crisis through March. The volcanic ash crisis hit the weakest part of the industry the hardest. The majority of the US$1.7 billion in lost revenues was by Europe's carriers," Bisignani said.

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