Louis Ibah
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) yesterday released the global air freight markets date showing that African airlines recorded a 6.0 per cent demand or patronage in March 2019, compared to the same period in 2018.
“African carriers posted the fastest growth of any region in March 2019, with an increase in demand of 6.0 per cent compared to the same period a year earlier,” said IATA’s CEO, Mr. Alexandre de Juniac.
“African airline’s freight cargo capacity grew 15.2 per cent year-on-year. Seasonally-adjusted international freight volumes for African carrier are lower than their peak in mid-2017; despite this, they are still around 30 per cent higher than their most recent trough in late-2015,” he added.
African carriers benefited immensely from inter-state trade and commerce, with a boom in imports and exports of agro products among such countries as Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Egypt, Ghana etc.
For the global picture, IATA said the global air freight markets showing that demand, measured in freight tonne kilometers (FTKs), increased 0.1 per cent in March 2019, compared to the same period in 2018.
IATA however noted that while this is a significant improvement on the 4.9 per cent contraction in February, in seasonally adjusted terms, demand is still down 1.5 per cent over the past year.
“Year-on-year demand for air freight edged back into positive territory in March 2019 with 0.1 per cent growth and after four consecutive months of contraction, this is an encouraging development,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO.