Pictured: Willie Walsh, Director General of IATA
Demand measured in cargo tonne kilometres (CTK) was up 14.7% in total and 15.5% for international operations, making it the sixth consecutive month of double-digit growth.
Capacity measured in available CTK increased by 6.7% in May in total and by 10.2% for international operations.
IATA said the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for global manufacturing output was 52.6 and for new export orders was 50.4 in May, indicating expansion.
Industrial production increased month-on-month in April by 0.5% and global cross-border trade was up 1.5%.
Inflation was mixed in May with a fall of 2.7% and 2.8% in the European Union and Japan respectively, and an increase to 3.3% in the USA.
China’s inflation rate was 0.3% because of weak domestic demand due to high unemployment, slow income growth and a crisis in the real estate sector.
Willie Walsh, Director General of IATA says that air cargo benefited from trade growth, the boom of e-commerce and capacity constraints on maritime shipping.
He says, “The outlook remains largely positive with purchasing managers showing expectations for future growth. Some dampening, however, could come as the US imposes stricter conditions on e-commerce deliveries from China. Increased costs and transit times for shipments under $800 may deter US consumers and pose significant challenges for growth on the Asia-North America trade lane — the world’s biggest.”
Asia-Pacific airlines registered 17.8% growth in May with the Africa-Asia trade lane growing 40.6% followed by Europe-Asia up 20.4%, intra-Asia by 19.2% and Middle East-Asia by 18.6%.
North America saw the lowest growth at 8.7% with demand on the Asia-North America trade lane up 12% and North America-Europe by 8.9%.
European carriers were up 17.2% with an increase of 25.6% on intra-European services, the fifth consecutive month of double-digit growth.
Middle Eastern carriers saw 15.3% growth with the Middle East-Europe market performing particularly well at 33.8% and the Middle East-Asia up 18.6%.
Demand for Latin American carriers was up 12.7%.
African airlines saw 18.4% growth in May helped by strong performance on the Africa-Asia trade lane.