In October, demand was up 9.4% compared to October 2019, and while capacity constraints are easing, it remains 7.2% below pre-Covid-19 levels.
Economic conditions have weakened slightly but supply chain disruption still favours air cargo with the global Supplier Delivery Time Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) reaching an all-time low of 34.8, with anything below 50 favouring air cargo.
New export orders and manufacturing output has slowed gradually since May but remain in favourable territory.
The inventory-to-sales ratio remains low ahead of the peak year-end retail events such as Christmas, pushing manufacturers towards air cargo to rapidly meet demand.
Trade and production remains above pre-crisis levels and the cost of air cargo relative to container shipping is favourable.
Willie Walsh, Director General of IATA says the outlook is strong and capacity constraints are slowly being resolved but how governments are reacting to the Omicron variant is concerning, saying if it dampens travel demand, capacity issues will get worse.
He says: “After almost two years of Covid-19, governments have the experience and tools to make better data-driven decisions than the mostly knee-jerk reactions to restrict travel that we have seen to date. Restrictions will not stop the spread of Omicron. Along with urgently reversing these policy mistakes, the focus of governments should be squarely on ensuring the integrity of supply chains and increasing the distribution of vaccines.”