IATA said international cargo traffic grew 26.5 percent in February compared to the same month a year ago. However the market has to grow a further three percent to return to pre-crisis levels.
Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s director general and CEO, noted, “We are moving in the right direction. In two to three months the industry should be back to pre-recession traffic levels. This is still not a full recovery. The task ahead is to adjust to two years of lost growth.”
Despite the strong rebound overall, IATA said European airlines are making the slowest recovery with a year-on-year growth of just 7.2 percent in February.
Bisignani added, “We anticipate Europe to post $2.2 billion in losses this year—the highest among the regions. Weak European freight demand is in line with our forecast. It is disappointing to see labor at European airlines engaging in strikes when the fragile industry needs to focus on improving efficiency and reducing costs.”
North American airlines’ freight traffic rose 34.1 percent compared to Asia-Pacific (34.5 percent) and Latin American airlines (41.9 percent) during the month.
Air Cargo World
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