The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has announced global traffic results for September showing a continued slowdown in the rate of traffic growth.
Demand for air cargo rose 0.6 per cent compared to September 2011, but fell 0.6 per cent compared to August 2012 – representing the second month-on-month fall in air freight growth in as many months and eroding the stability in volumes achieved earlier in 2012, the IATA said in a press release.
All the major regions experienced year-on-year declines. Asia-Pacific carriers saw a 1.6 per cent decline in demand in September compared to the previous year. North American airlines had a 1.1 per cent drop in demand, against a 3.1 per cent drop in capacity. European airlines, meanwhile, had a 0.4 per cent decline in traffic, but capacity climbed 1.2 per cent.
Commenting on the September results, Tony Tyler, IATA’s director general and CEO said: 'Europe’s airlines are experiencing profitless growth in a strategy to manage high fixed costs and taxes... for North American airlines the focus is on tightly managing capacity in order to optimise profits in a slow to no-growth environment. Asia-Pacific carriers outside of China are a mixed bag. Robust growth in China is being tempered by faltering markets in Japan and India.'
