IATA: Global Air Freight Demand Grows 10.4 Pct in H1 2017

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 3 (Bernama) -- Global air freight market demand grew by 10.4 per cent in freight tonne kilometres (FTKs) in the first half of this year (H1 2017), compared with the same period last year, said the International Air Transport Association (IATA). It said demand growth continued to significantly outstrip capacity growth which increased by 3.6 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in available FTKs in the first half of this year. “This was the strongest first half-year performance since air cargo’s rebound from the global financial crisis in 2010 and nearly tripled the industry’s average growth rate of 3.9 per cent over the last five years,” it said in a statement Wednesday. It added that the higher demand growth as compared to capacity growth would also give positive impact to yields. The IATA said the sustained growth of air freight demand was consistent with an improvement in global trade, with new global export orders remaining close to a six-year high. However, it said there were signs that the cyclical growth period might have peaked as the global inventory-to-sales ratio had stopped falling. “This indicates that the period when companies look to restock inventories quickly, which often gives air cargo a boost, may be nearing an end.” Nevertheless, it said the outlook for air freight was optimistic with demand expected to grow at a robust rate of eight per cent during the third quarter of this year. Meanwhile, in June 2017 demand growth increased 11 per cent YoY while freight capacity grew by 5.2 per cent YoY. -- BERNAMA