The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has announced a general downward trend in global air-traffic demand in line with deteriorating global economic conditions.
According to its May results, freight demand was 1.9 per cent below previous year levels. Compared to April, the freight market contracted by 0.4 per cent.
Freight markets hit a low during the fourth quarter of 2011. Since then, they have moved sideways with just a 1.5 per cent improvement on that level by May, IATA said in a statement.
Tony Tyler, IATA’s director general and CEO said: “The airline industry is fragile. Relief in oil prices provides some good news. Unfortunately, the softness in oil markets comes on the back of fears of deterioration in the European economy.
“Business and consumer confidence are falling. And we are seeing the first signs of that in slowing demand and softer load factors. This does not bode well for industry profitability. Airlines are expected to return a US$3bn profit in 2012 on US$631bn in revenues. That’s a razor-thin 0.5 per cent margin,” he added.
European airlines experienced the steepest decline in freight traffic, according to IATA, posting a 5.7 per cent decline compared to a year ago on a 1 per cent rise in capacity.
North American airlines saw a 1.9 per cent drop in demand while capacity was trimmed by 1.6 per cent. Asia-Pacific carriers reported a 4.1 per cent decline in demand in May compared to the previous year, while capacity dipped just 1.7 per cent.
