Iata sees 4.1% growth over 5 years for airfreight sector 23 Oct5:50 AM Berlin THE outlook for airfreight demand is improving after several years in the doldrums, the International Air Transport Association said on Wednesday. The industry body said that international freight volumes, an indicator of global trade demand, are expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate of 4.1 per cent over the next five years. An average of more than 4 per cent growth for the next five years would be a marked improvement on the performance of recent years, Iata director general Tony Tyler said in a statement, adding that growth has averaged 0.63 per cent per year since 2011. Iata also said that the United Arab Emirates will have replaced Germany as the third largest market for air freight by 2018, with the UAE, the United States and China set to add more than one million additional tonnes of freight by then. More than US$6.8 trillion worth of goods, equivalent to 35 per cent of total world trade by value, is expected to be transported by air freight in 2014. The fastest growing international routes will be between the Middle East and Asia, at a rate of 6.2 per cent per year. Intra- Middle East (4.6 per cent), North America to South America (3.9 per cent) and Europe to Southern Africa (3.8 per cent) routes will also grow strongly. But Mr Tyler warned that despite the positive picture, the overall risks to the economic outlook, and therefore to air freight, remain towards the downside. He said that trade protectionism is a constant danger. According to the World Trade Organization (WTO), between Nov 2013 and May 2014 alone, 112 new trade-restrictive measures were enacted by G-20 governments. Geopolitical concerns, volatility of oil prices, and competition from rail and sea could also affect this forecast. The air cargo industry certainly cannot afford to be complacent, said Mr Tyler. He said to enhance air cargo competitiveness, the industry is aiming to cut average transit times by up to 48 hours by 2020. To achieve this, air freight is modernising its processes, improving quality and reliability, and widening the range of services offered. He added that a key component of modernised processes is the e-Freight project, which will render air cargo shipments paperless. As a first step, the industry is adopting the e-Air Waybill (e-AWB). In September 2014, global e-AWB penetration reached 19.4 per cent, meaning that the 2014 industry target of 22 per cent is within reach, Mr Tyler said. REUTERS
Posted on: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 06:19:01 +0000
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