2015 a sluggish year for Asia-Pacific air cargo hubs

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Taipei's Taoyuan International Airport has cancelled 51 arriving and departing flights on August 4 but says the cancellations are due to the COVID-19 situation.

Taiwan airportAir cargo traffic at Asia-Pacific airports registered weak growth in full-year 2015, in line with only marginal expansion overall for global volumes for the year, according to Airports Council International (ACI).

Global airfreight markets grew by a modest 2.3% in 2015 and by 1.9% in December year-on-year, largely due to subdued growth in emerging markets and developing economies, along with a more modest recovery in advanced economies.

Full-year aggregate growth is comprised of a 2.5% hike in international freight and 1.8% growth in domestic freight on an annualized basis. The faster-than-expected slowdown in Chinese imports and exports reflects weaker capital investment and manufacturing activity, which were key drivers for global economy over the last two decades.

Even though all regions remained in positive territory, only the Middle East demonstrated a strong increase of 10.7% in 2015, while all other regions grew only marginally, said the worldwide association of airports.

In Asia-Pacific, the world’s biggest airfreight market, cargo saw a slight increase of 0.7% in December 2015, in line with weak growth of 1.5% for the whole year. International airfreight growth was especially weak last year at only 1%.

For key players, China, accounting for almost a third of airfreight traffic in the region, grew by a modest 3.3% in total traffic. Japan grew by a marginal 0.9%, Hong Kong remained flat at 0.1%, and India posted robust 6.4% growth. South Korea reported marginal growth of 0.4%, and Taiwan went into negative territory with a 3.2% decline in total freight.

North America, the second largest cargo market, reported a 1.4% growth for December and 2.4% expansion for the full year. A number of airports reported substantial increases in volumes on an annualized basis, including Chicago-O`Hare, Anchorage, Los Angeles, and Cincinnati. Memphis and Louisville, the two major cargo hubs in the region, reported modest growth, while Houston registered a contraction.

Airfreight in Europe grew by 2.8% in December 2015, well above the growth rate for the full year of 0.7%. The whole-year growth was marred by weak growth of 0.9% in international freight and a 3.9% decline in domestic freight. The largest European airfreight markets of Germany, France, and the Netherlands saw declines in volumes, while the United Kingdom remained flat at 0.2%. Marginal growth for the region was achieved with the help of Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, and Turkey.

The four largest European cargo hubs—Frankfurt, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Amsterdam, and London-Heathrow—experienced declines in 2015.

Middle Eastern airports posted an outstanding 9.1% growth in airfreight in December and 10.7% growth on an annualized basis, which is over five times greater than the global growth rate. In nine out of 12 months over the course of the year, the Middle East outstripped all other regions in international freight growth, and in 10 out of 12 months the region outperformed the rest of the world in total freight.

In Africa, total airfreight traffic increased by 1.7% in December compared to the previous year and by 3.2% during the 12 months of 2015. On a country-by-country basis the results were mixed: even though the major markets of South Africa and Egypt grew strongly in 2015, a number of countries reported airfreight declines, including Kenya and Nigeria.

Latin America-Caribbean was the only region that dipped into negative territory in December, posting a contraction of 0.4% year-on-year. The performance was symptomatic of weak freight growth for the 12 months of the year (1.2%).

Brazil—the largest airfreight market in the region—experienced a major decline in airfreight traffic, but Colombia and Mexico kept their momentum as the key cargo growth drivers in the region. The results for other significant airfreight players in the region are varied: while Peru and Argentina reported declines, Ecuador boasted solid growth.

Photo: KCS