Air freight volumes are showing solid gains on a year ago, supported by improving trade growth in some regions, but weakness in load factors and yields continues to place downward pressure on financial performance.
That was the message from the latest cargo e-Chartbook from airline association IATA, covering the fourth quarter of 2014.
It reports that emerging Asia trade volumes continue to rise and that US consumers are the most confident they have been since the recession, and that these developments have supported growth in demand for air-freighted commodities like semi-conductors.
“However, in Europe consumer confidence and trade activity have weakened due to the Russia-Ukraine crisis,” warns IATA, adding: “Moreover, there has been no increase in global business confidence for the past several months.
“This casts doubts over the strength of the global economic upturn and prospects for continued trade growth.”
The tumbling oil price has seen “notable declines” in jet fuel prices since mid-2014 which should help reduce airline costs, but “yields continue to decline slowly, putting strain on financial performance, and could weaken further as new aircraft deliveries come into service in 2015”.
Cargo bosses surveyed in October do not expected to see any improvement in yields during the year ahead, but they do anticipate continued growth in demand.
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