The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has revealed that global air freight demand, measured in freight tonne kilometres (FTKs), rose by 12.1% in August this year compared to the same month in 2016.

Freight capacity, measured in available freight tonne kilometres (AFTKs), increased by 4.7% this month when compared to that of August 2016.

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Rise in demand continues to outstrip capacity growth, which is said to be beneficial for industry load factors, yields, and financial performance.

In the first seven months of this year, world trade volumes registered a year-on-year growth of 4.2%, marking the strongest performance since 2011.

"Rapid growth in cargo demand means that cargo capacity is now growing in response to real cargo demand rather than automatically as carriers responded to passenger demand."

The rise in world trade volumes is consistent with increasing export orders.

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IATA director general and CEO Alexandre de Juniac said: “Air cargo had another stellar performance in August. Demand for air cargo grew at a double-digit rate for the fourth month in a row – outperforming demand for passenger travel for the fourth consecutive month.

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“Rapid growth in cargo demand means that cargo capacity is now growing in response to real cargo demand rather than automatically as carriers responded to passenger demand.

“The pace of capacity growth, however, has slowed even as freighter fleets are being utilised more intensely. Overall, that should be good news for much beleaguered cargo yields.”

Excluding Latin America, regions worldwide reported a double digit freight growth in August this year compared to August 2016. 

During the month, Latin American airlines posted a rise in demand of 8.5%, while capacity increased by 9.3% compared to the same period last year.

In terms of FTK, total freight traffic market shares by region of airlines are 37.5% for Asia-Pacific, 23.5% for Europe, 20.7% for North America, 13.9% for Middle East,  2.8% for Latin America, and 1.6% for Africa.