Airfreight volumes have continued to move sideways as hopes for a stronger 2016 fade, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) says in its May 2016 market analysis.

Freight tonne kilometres (FTK) grew by 0.9 per cent in May, with Africa, Europe and the Middle East seeing growth while Asia Pacific, Latin America and North America all fell. Capacity in available FTK continued to grow, up 4.9 per cent, pushing the global load factor down by 1.7 percentage points to 41.9 per cent.

IATA director general and chief executive officer, Tony Tyler says: “Global trade has basically moved sideways since the end of 2014 taking air cargo with it. Hopes for a stronger 2016 are fading as economic and political uncertainty increases.”

“Air cargo is vital to the global economy. But the business environment is extremely difficult and there are few signs of any immediate relief.”

Among the regions seeing growth, IATA says Europe benefitted from strong German exports, Middle Eastern expansion has slowed and Africa only saw a marginal increase.

North America has seen its twelve consecutive month of declines, Asia Pacific continues to suffer from weak trading conditions and Latin American economic conditions have worsened, particularly in Brazil.