A new report from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has revealed that the demand for global air freight market, measured in freight tonne kilometres (FTKs), increased by 9% last year.
The demand is more than double the 3.6% annual growth posted in 2016, said the new full-year 2017 report.
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However, last year had seen only a 3% increase in terms of global air freight capacity, measured in available freight tonne kilometres (AFTKs), representing the slowest annual capacity growth since 2012.
According to the report, December had witnessed the air cargo sector registering a strong performance.
Year-on-year demand growth in December grew by 5.7%, which was less than half the annual growth recorded during the middle of last year, but more than the five-year average of 4.7%.
During the year, demand for air freight grew at twice the rate of the expansion in world trade due to strong global demand for manufacturing exports as companies moved to restock inventories quickly, said the IATA report.
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By GlobalDataAmong various geographical regions, African airlines recorded the fastest growth in year-on-year freight volumes, which up by 15.6% in December last year and a 7.9% increase in capacity.
IATA director general and CEO Alexandre de Juniac said: “Air cargo had its strongest performance since the rebound from the global financial crisis in 2010.
“Demand grew by 9.0%. That outpaced the industry-wide growth in both cargo capacity and in passenger demand. We saw improvements in load factors, yields and revenues.
“Air cargo is still a very tough and competitive business, but the developments in 2017 were the most positive that we have seen in a very long time.”
According to IATA, increasing international e-commerce and the transport of time and temperature-sensitive goods, including pharmaceuticals, are expected to boost the growth of air freight this year.
