International airfreight in August continues to recover as growth levels have risen above trend, jumping 7.5 percent from the same period last year to coincide with an expansion in global trade activity and increasing business confidence, according to the latest report from Airports Council International (ACI).
Overall domestic and international accumulated volumes for the last 12 months rose by 3.6 percent, while total August freight volumes jumped 5.8 percent year-over-year.
ACI World’s economics director Rafael Echevarne confirmed the robust growth in international freight volumes in most regions in August, “particularly at airports in the large exporting nations of the Asia-Pacific.”
All regions achieved gains in freight volumes except for Latin America-Caribbean, as it experienced a decline in shipments by 1.7 percent following Brazil’s slide into a recession.
Dubai World Central (DWC), the Middle Eastern airport that is poised to surpass all other airports in terms of freight and passenger capacity, is now a major contributor to overall growth in freight volumes for the region, said ACI.
Although it has only recently started operations, in August alone airfreight volumes at DWC have quintupled to over 80,000 metric tonnes as compared to the previous year. “Month after month, with increased operations, DWC is moving up the ranks to be among the busiest international freight airports in the world,” it added.
Asia-Pacific also posted strong increases in volumes at 8.2 percent in August compared to the same month of the preceding year. The world’s largest airfreight hub, Hong Kong, increased volumes by 8.6 percent for the month.
Europe and North America had more modest growth levels at 3.3 percent and 2.1 percent, respectively. Africa only inched up slightly in overall freight volumes with growth of 0.5 percent year-over-year.
Photo: Fae
