Middle Eastern freight carriers saw demand measured by freight tonne kilometres expand by 8.3 per cent, and capacity rise 11.6 per cent during October, said a report from the International Air Transport Association (Iata).

Recent air cargo growth in the region continues to trend well below the rates seen for the first half of the year, it added.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE, among others in the region, have seen slowdowns in non-oil sectors, but growth rates remain robust enough to sustain solid demand for air cargo.

African carriers experienced a fall in demand of 1.1 per cent, and capacity rose by 6.9 per cent. Despite the October result, Africa is still the second fastest growing air cargo market for the year-to-date. Demand is holding up despite the underperformance of Nigeria and South Africa, according to Iata.

Globally, air cargo volumes rose just 0.5 per cent in October compared to a year ago. Year-over-year expansion fell back from September’s faster growth rate, and total cargo volumes in October stand 1.1 per cent lower than the peak of the uptrend at the end of 2014.

European carriers have driven recent improvements in air cargo growth, but they ran out of steam in October with a rise of just 0.2 per cent. Other regions also underlined the weak October trend.

The most significant decline in cargo activity was experienced by North American carriers, who reported a 2.4 per cent fall in volumes. Latin America (-8.1 per cent) and Africa (-1.1 per cent) are smaller markets and also declined. Asia-Pacific was up, little more than Europe with a rise of 0.3 per cent.

"The outlook for air cargo continues to be very difficult. While there was some optimism from third quarter growth it has all but disappeared as the industry basically flat-lined,” said Tony Tyler, Iata’s director general and CEO.

“Cargo capacity has grown largely in lock-step with the continued robust demand for passenger travel. As a result, freight load factors have sunk to the 44 per cent range—a level not seen since 2009. Early signs of improvement in export orders may bode well for trade and air cargo but this is unlikely to prevent air cargo finishing 2015 on a low note,” Tyler added. – TradeArabia News Service