International air freight traffic grew 3.7 percent in March over the same month a year ago despite a decline in shipping in Asia following the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, the International Air Transport Association said.
Capacity expansion also outpaced demand for the third straight month, IATA said, with available freight space growing 9.1 percent over March 2010.
The traffic gain marked an improvement over February’s 2.3 percent reported year-over-year increase, and IATA said international air freight shipping grew 4.5 percent from February to March.
Asia-Pacific air freight fell 0.6 percent year-over-year in March, IATA said, despite a 6 percent gain in capacity.
The decline in the world’s largest international air freight region was offset by strong gains in other markets.
The Middle East reported a 10.1 percent gain in traffic as capacity grew 17.1 percent over last year. North America shipping gained 7.1 percent over last year and Europe traffic grew 6.1 percent.
The Journal of Commerce Online