Revenue and tonnage have fallen for IAG Cargo as the market weakened, but demand for premium products has remained robust.

Third quarter cargo revenue was down 7.2% to €269 million, and sold cargo tonnes were down 5.7% to 162,000.

In the first nine months of 2019, cargo revenue fell by 2.6% to €825 million, with sold cargo tonnes down 1.3% to 508,000 tonnes.

Lynne Embleton, CEO of IAG Cargo says that revenue reflects the industry wide decline in airfreight and weakening global demand.

She says despite general market weakness, IAG Cargo’s wide network allows it to take advantage of demand for fresh and premium products.

Embleton says: “We have continued to invest in our operation developing new customer solutions. This quarter we announced our partnership with Cargo Signal to provide customers using our premium products with a comprehensive monitoring and tracking service for shipments through mobile and web applications. The new service offers unrivalled end-to-end cargo monitoring including location, live light and temperature data and humidity readings.”

She says efforts to grow the small-to-medium-sized customer based has resulted in a 9.5% increase in Forward.Rewards membership.

Embleton says: “This loyalty programme, aimed at SMEs, supports our drive to reach a broader audience. Coupled with enhancements to the customer sign-up process, this allows more SME customers to ship to over 350 destinations we serve.”