Air cargo growth accelerates into 2004
The air cargo industry ended 2003 on a positive note, according to the latest figures released by IATA, one of the largest air carrier organisations.
European airlines saw freight tonne kms (the usual indicator of industry output) rise by 2.5% compared with 2003. North American and Asian airlines saw their output rise by just over 5%, although much of the year was spent beneath 2002 levels. However the largest rise came in volumes to and from the Middle East. Airlines in this region recorded a 15% rise over the previous year.
Lufthansa was an exception to this trend seeing a 2.7% fall in the amount of cargo uplifted for the full year 2003. The situation was similarly patchy for other major European airlines. In the last quarter of 2003, Air France recorded a rise of 1.9% in ftks. However for the first three quarters of its financial year its overall volumes were still down on 2002 by 1.4%. KLM reported a 1% rise in freight output in January, compared to a 3% rise in overall ftks for its first 10 months of trading. Management commented that Asia Pacific and North American routes had been particularly strong (growing 11% and 7% respectively) although European outbound traffic continued to be under pressure.
British Airways saw total freight tonne kms grow by 16.6% in January. In its year to date figures (from April 2003) output was up by 3.6% which also seems to suggest that growth in output is accelerating.
