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The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said freight traffic showed a drop of four percent against the post-recession peak of the re-stocking cycle in May 2010. However, recent months show a renewed upward trend with freight volumes two percent higher than the start of the year.
“We saw positive developments for the air transport volumes in May. Freight volumes improved by 1.2 percent over April and passenger volumes were up by 1.8 percent. These will help to alleviate some of the pressure on profits from continued high fuel prices,” said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s director general and CEO.
“But there are risks associated with political unrest in the Middle East and the European currency crisis. We still expect the industry to make US$4 billion this year. That is a pathetic 0.7 percent margin and another shock could alter the industry’s fortunes dramatically. It’s another tough year for a very fragile industry,” said Bisignani.
Air freight markets showed a four percent decline in May. This is lower than the 5.5 percent IATA forecast for 2011.
Carriers in all regions except Latin America (up 1.5 percent) and the Middle East (+8.1 percent) saw air freight declines compared to May 2010.
The largest fall was for Asia-Pacific carriers with a 9.2 percent drop, showing the impact of disrupted supply chains in Japan and tighter economic policies in China.
Declines by African carriers (down 7.8 percent) reflected the disruption in Egypt and Tunisia. European and North American carriers had modest falls of 2.2 percent and 1.4 percent respectively.
Cargonews Asia
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