Airfreight Shows Continued Improvement
Global airfreight demand continued to show improvement during the month of March. According to a recent report from IATA.org, demand for airfreight increased 28.1% compared to March of 2009. While the signs are positive and point to a continued recovery in global airfreight, the March numbers are compared to same time period in 2009, which was near the low point of the recession.
Via IATA.org:
“March results show that the pace of the upturn is strong. But the trauma of the recession is not over. The industry has lost two years of growth, and passenger and freight markets are still 1% below early 2008 highs. Nonetheless, the pace of improvement, based on an improving global economic situation, is much faster than anybody would have expected even six months ago,” said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s Director General and CEO.
The good news is that global airfreight is now within 1% of it’s high in early 2008. I would expect the cargo numbers to dip slightly in April due to the Icelandic volcanic eruption which shut down European air travel for 6 days.
Nearly all regions showed outstanding growth, with the Latin America region leading the charge with a 47.9% increase. Despite the continued sluggish U.S. economy, U.S. airfreight grew 32.2%.
Lets hope this is a sign of good things to come for the remainder of 2010. According to some of my colleagues on the freight forwarding side of the business, airfreight space out of Hong Kong is extremely tight and rates are on the rise.
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