KUALA LUMPUR, June 1 — Global air cargo demand, as measured by cargo tonne-kilometres, fell 6.6 per cent in April this year compared to the same month in 2022, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
However, the rate of decline was slower than the previous month's 7.6 per cent drop, it said.
Meanwhile, capacity rose 13.4 per cent compared with April 2022. It was up 3.2 per cent against April 2019, marking the first time in three years that the capacity had surpassed pre-Covid-19 levels, the association said.
“The strong uptick was primarily driven by belly capacity as demand in the passenger business recovers. Adjusting for this, freighter capacity declined 2.3 per cent,” IATA said in a statement.
IATA director general Willie Walsh said the air cargo industry was adjusting itself to the implications of the recovery in passenger demand that brought with it an expansion of belly capacity.
“Preighter (passenger freighter) operations stopped in March and freighter services were scaled back by 2.3 per cent in April.
“The demand environment is challenging to read but tapering inflation is definitely a positive,” he said.
However, Walsh noted the degree and speed which could lead to looser monetary policies that might stimulate demand remains unclear.
IATA said the key factors influencing demand included the improvement in the global new export orders component of the Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), a leading indicator of cargo demand, in April.
It also noted that global goods trade increased by 0.2 per cent in March, marking the first annual increase since November 2022.
— Bernama
