July Growth in Europe, Middle East Offsets Weak Asian Freight Markets, IATA Says
The International Air Transport Association (IATA)’s global air cargo travel results for July 2013 showed continued modest improvement from June for Europe and the Middle East, which offset weakness in Asia’s freight markets. IATA said that air freight levels are at their highest since mid-2011, with European carriers seeing a 1.5 percent increase and Middle East airlines seeing a 14.4 percent increase in freight ton kilometers (FTKs) compared to July 2012. However, Asian cargo demand fell 1.4 percent compared to July 2012 and has seen “the largest decline among regions” in air freight through the first seven months of 2013. IATA added that the “weakness extends beyond China, with emerging Asia trade volumes shrinking almost 5 percent in the first half of 2013.”
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IATA’s CEO Tony Tyler called July’s growth “encouraging, particularly in Europe,” but said it would be premature to predict that air cargo was “emerging from the doldrums of the past 18 months.” “The weakness in Asia-Pacific freight markets and the deteriorating political situations in parts of the Middle East give ample reason for continued caution,” Tyler said.
The July air freight results are (here).