News
Asia-Pacific international freight volumes pick up in October
December 3rd 2021
Asia-Pacific airlines benefited from global growth in cargo demand in October with a 7.9% increase in international air freight volumes, more than twice the previous month’s 4% expansion. Read More » However, the numbers lagged most other regions and were less than half the 18.8% rise in international cargo volumes reported by North American carriers. New figures from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) show only Latin America recorded lower growth than the Asia-Pacific for the month. IATA said the region’s results were partly driven by increased capacity between Europe and Asia as several important passenger routes reopened. Belly capacity between the regions declined 28.3% in October, but was better than the 37.9% fall in September. International capacity in the Asia-Pacific eased slightly in in the reported period, down 12.9% compared with the previous year, a significant improvement over the 18.9% drop in September. In terms of cargo-tonne kilometres, global cargo traffic was up 9.4% as demand continued above pre-crisis levels and capacity constraints eased slightly due to the increased availability of belly space. But IATA director-general, Willie Walsh, expressed concern about government reactions to the Omicron COVID-19 variant. "If it dampens travel demand, capacity issues will become more acute,’’ Walsh said. “After almost two years of COVID-19, governments have the experience and tools to make better data-driven decisions than the mostly knee-jerk reactions to restrict travel we have seen to date. Restrictions will not stop the spread of Omicron.”
