Declining volumes, but waiting for virus impact
According to Iata, global air freight demand decreased by 3.3% in January 2020, compared to January 2019. Cargo capacity rose by 0.9%, outstripping demand growth for 21 consecutive months. Airlines in Asia-Pacific (-5.9%) and Europe (-3.7%) suffered sharp declines, while North American (-1.3%) and Middle East (-1.4%) carriers experienced a more moderate decline. Latin America (+1.4%) and Africa (+6.8%) were the only regions to record growth.
Director general and CEO Alexandre de Juniac: "January marked the tenth consecutive month of year-on-year declines in cargo volumes. There was optimism that an easing of US-China trade tensions would give the sector a boost in 2020. But that has been overtaken by the COVID-19 outbreak [...] although it did not have a major impact on January’s cargo performance." (ah)