ACI releases generally-positive cargo results

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Monday, 06 November 2017

Airports Council International (ACI) has  released its World Airport Traffic report, with comprehensive data covering more than 2,400 airports in 175 countries world wide.

Unprecedented air

cargo growth

"Air cargo markets experienced a revival in the second half of 2

016 to surpass 110 million metric tonnes by the end of the year and achieving growth of four per cent," said Gittens. ìDespite the backdrop of economic uncertainty regarding trade policies in the United States and the United Kingdom, two of the world's largest aviation markets, business confidence has persevered into 2017.

"International trade continued to make gains on the cyclical recovery in the global economy, which translated into growth in air freight volumes. Inventory build-ups, augmented export orders and a strengthening of consumer demand reflected in increased online purchases are important drivers in the near-term. On a year to date basis, air freight volumes (excluding mail), point to estimates of an astounding increase of over eight per cent in volumes for the first half of 2017.

"When we look at the traffic data over the last two decades, we get a sense that aviation has entered a new era of unprecedented growth," continued Gittens.

Outlook 2017–2018

Air cargo, following on its surge in the latter half of 2016 and into 2017, will continue to rise at rates averaging 7.4 per cent worldwide. Over a two year period, this growth will add up to an estimated 16.9 million additional tonnes by December 2018, of which almost 50 per cent will be handled by the Asia-Pacific region, increasing the regionís total market share to just above 39 per cent.

"Notwithstanding, the industry must be cognisant of the fact that there are several impediments that could curtail the continued rise in demand," said Gittens.

"Specifically, these are related to geo-political unrest, terrorism and threats to security in certain parts of the world. Physical capacity considerations and potential bottlenecks in air transport infrastructure also pose challenges in accommodating future air transport demand. Finally, protectionist policies that retreat from further economic integration and air transport liberalisation could have adverse contractionary effect on the air transport industry.

"In this new era of geopolitical strife and terror, coupled with the wave of protectionist rhetoric that has swept many major economies, clear downside risks have revealed themselves as we end 2017 and approach 2018. Even with the prevailing strength in consumer confidence across major economies and relatively sound economic fundamentals as our backdrop, cautious optimism should be the prevailing sentiment in our industry,î Gittens concluded.

Key statistics in brief

Air cargo traffic:

World-wide airport cargo increased 4 per cent in 2016 to 110 million tonnes, with mixed levels of growth across all six regions.

Hong Kong (HKG) and Memphis (MEM) take the first and second ranks respectively for the busiest air cargo airports with 4.6 and 4.3 million tonnes in 2016.

Airports in the Asia-Pacific region handled the largest amount of air cargo during 2016:

- Asia-Pacific (43.4 million tonnes, up 5.4 per cent over 2015)

- North America (30.8 million tonnes, up 2.4 per cent over 2015)

- Europe (20.1 million tonnes, up 5 per cent over 2015)

- Middle East (8.8 million tonnes, up 2.7 per cent over 2015)

- Latin America-Caribbean (5.1 million tonnes, up 0.9 per cent over 2015)

- Africa (2.1 million tonnes, up 1.3 per cent over 2015).

The worldís fastest-growing airports handling over 250,000 tonnes of air cargo during 2016 are:

1) Moscow (SVO) (256 thousand tonnes, up 28.8 per cent over 2015)

2) Doha (DOH) (1.76 million tonnes, up 20.8 per cent over 2015)

3) Hanoi (HAN) (566 thousand tonnes, up 18.2 per cent over 2015).

The worldís busiest airports in international freight traffic are:

1) Hong Kong (HKG) (4.52 million tonnes, up 3.2 per cent over 2015)

2) Incheon (ICN) (2.60 million tonnes, up 4.5 per cent over 2015)

3) Dubai (DXB) (2.59 million tonnes, up 3.4 per cent over 2015).

The worldís busiest airports in domestic freight traffic are:

1) Memphis (MEM) (3.80 million tonnes, down 6.1 per cent over 2015)

2) Louisville (SDF) (1.91 million tonnes, up 3.3 per cent over 2015)

3) Beijing (PEK) (1.14 million tonnes, down 1.2 per cent over 2015).