March 4 , 2020
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) reports that demand in global air freight markets decreased by 3.3% in January 2020, compared to the same period in 2019. This marks the thirteenth consecutive month of year-on-year declines in air freight volumes.
IATA says that it is unlikely that the COVID-19 outbreak had very much to do with January's weak performance. Lunar New Year in 2020 was earlier than in 2019. This skewed 2020 numbers towards weakness as many Chinese manufacturers would be closed for the holiday period. February performance will give a better picture of how COVID-19 is impacting global air cargo.
"January marked the tenth consecutive month of year-on-year declines in cargo volumes. The air cargo industry started the year on a weak footing. There was optimism that an easing of US-China trade tensions would give the sector a boost in 2020. But that has been overtaken by the COVID-19 outbreak, which has severely disrupted global supply chains, although it did not have a major impact on January's cargo performance. Tough times are ahead. The course of future events is unclear, but this is a sector that has proven its resilience time and again," said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA's Director General and CEO.
Asia-Pacific airlines saw demand for air cargo contract by 5.9% in January 2020, compared to the year-earlier period. This was the sharpest drop in freight demand of any region for the month.
European airlines posted a 3.7% decrease in cargo demand compared to the same period a year earlier - more than double the 1.3%% drop in year-on-year demand in December.
North American airlines saw demand decrease by 1.3%, compared to the same period a year earlier and Middle Eastern airlines' cargo volumes decreased 1.4%.
Latin American airlines experienced an increase in freight demand in January 2020 of 1.4% compared to January 2019 - reversing the 2.5% decrease in December.
African carriers posted the fastest growth of any region for the 11th consecutive month in January 2020, with an increase in demand of 6.8% compared to the same period a year earlier.