Air cargo’s strong performance in the first half of 2017 was confirmed with year-on-year growth of 11 per cent in June, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) says.
Freight tonne kilometres were up 10.4 per cent in the first half, the strongest first half-year performance since air cargo’s rebound from the Global Financial Crisis in 2010, and nearly triple the industry’s average rate of 3.9 per cent over the last five years.
The association says the sustained growth is consistent with an improvement in global trade, with new global export orders remaining close to a six year high, but there are signs that the cyclical growth period may have peaked.
The global inventory-to-sales ratio has stopped falling, indicating that the period when companies look to restock inventories quickly may be nearing the end, but IATA predicts eight per cent growth during the third quarter.
IATA director general and chief executive officer, Alexandre de Juniac says: “Air cargo is flying high on the back of a stronger global economy. Demand is growing at a faster pace than at any time since the Global Financial Crisis. That’s great news after many years of stagnation.”
“And, even more importantly, the industry is taking advantage of this momentum to accelerate much-needed process modernisation and improve the value it provides to its many customers.”
