The global demand for air freight transport fell by 13.6 percent on an annual basis in October as a result of the deteriorated economic prospects in many major economies. The international branch organization reports this for Aviation IATA.
The decrease in the demand for air freight follows the solid performance in October 2021.
Compared to September, the air freight demand increased by 3.5 percent. Air freight continues to show resilience despite the economic headwind, said Willie Walsh, director-general of IATA. “This indicates that the end of the year still provides a traditional revival, despite the economic uncertainties.”
Now that 2022 is coming to an end, according to Walsh, the current economic uncertainties will continue in the new year. “That is something we have to keep a close eye on,” warned the CEO.
The capacity in October was 0.6 percent below the level of a year ago. That was the first shrink on an annual basis since April 2022. Every month, the capacity did rise by 2.4 percent in preparation for the peak season due to the holidays at the end of the year. The international freight capacity grew by 2.4 percent compared to October 2021.
European airlines saw their air freight volumes decrease in October by 18.8 percent compared to the same month in 2021. Europe thus had the largest decrease in all regions. The European freight volumes already decreased by 15.6 percent in September. The capacity in Europe fell by 5.2 percent on an annual basis in October.