Freight volumes fell by 0.2 per cent worldwide in August with both North America and Latin America – Caribbean declining while most other regions saw little growth, according to Airports Council International (ACI).
Airports in North America reported a fall of 1.7 per cent year-on-year (YOY) in August while Latin America – Caribbean declined by 2.8 per cent in the same month. Asia Pacific saw no growth while the Middle East was up 0.9 per cent. Europe saw an increase of 1.1 per cent and Africa was up 11.2 per cent.
ACI says the Asia Pacific region has been affected by economic growth slowing in China with the region’s largest hub, Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) reporting a YOY decline of 1.4 per cent. ACI says: “With a high concentration of the world’s major airfreight hubs located in the region, this has an impact on global growth in volumes, which has remained flat as compared to last year.”
When HKIA released its August figures, it blamed declines in China and Taiwan for cargo volumes falling to 361,000 tonnes, with transhipments dropping five per cent.
ACI says in North America, Memphis International Airport, a major FedEx hub, declined 1.4 per cent while Louisville International Airport, a UPS base, fell by 0.8 per cent.
So far this year worldwide volumes are up by 2.6 per cent with all regions seeing growth, varying from 0.5 per cent in Europe to 11.4 per cent in Africa. Latin America – Caribbean increased by 1.3 per cent while Asia Pacific was up by 2.2 per cent. North America saw an increase of 3.5 per cent and the Middle East was up 6.3 per cent.
