Growth in worldwide air cargo traffic reached its highest level in nearly seven years as March FTKs expanded 14% compared to a year ago, according to IATA"™s March Air Freight Market analysis. Freight capacity increased 4.2% during the month, leading to a total market freight load factor of 47.4%, up 4.1 points year-over-year.
"[It] was clearly a very strong quarter "¦ FTKs have grown by 9.7% in annual terms so far this year," IATA senior economist David Oxley said. "In fact, adjusting for the "¦ [2016] leap year, we estimate that the true pace of FTK growth was even faster, closer to 11%."
IATA noted the recent air freight growth trend coincides with broader improvement in world trade conditions as new export orders are reportedly reaching a six-year high.
"Optimism is returning to the industry as the business stabilizes after many years in the doldrums," IATA DG and CEO Alexandre de Juniac said. "There is, however, still much ground to recover while facing the dual headwinds of rising fuel and labor costs."
Carriers in Europe and Asia, which combined carry 61% of the world"™s air freight, had strong showings in March, as freight traffic demand in each region rose 18.2% and 13.6% respectively, year-over-year (YOY). European carrier"™ capacity grew 6.7%, for a 50.8% freight load factor, up 4.9 points YOY. Asia-Pacific carrier"™ freight capacity was up 4.8%; the region"™s freight load factor increased by 4.4 points YOY to 57%.
Air freight growth on Middle Eastern carriers has recovered after an 18-month slump, IATA said. The region"™s carriers showed a 16.3% increase in FTKs during the month, with 2.7% capacity growth, producing a 47.6% freight load factor.
North American freight volumes were up 9.5% in March, on 2.8% YOY capacity growth for a 36.9% freight load factor. North American international freight was up 14.2%, the fastest pace since the US west coast seaport shutdown in early 2015…
