IAG rises on upbeat air freight statistics

2nd Apr 2014 16:57

International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG) rose strongly on Wednesday on the back of a report from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) which revealed a 2.9 per cent month-on-month increase in demand for global air freight. Overall, demand in the first two months of the year increased 3.6% compared to the same period in 2013. "Cargo has had a positive start to the year. There is good cause for measured optimism for the cargo industry's prospects in 2014. The 3.6% growth in demand recorded over the first two months of this year is a significant step up from the 1.4% growth in demand over the whole of 2013," said Tony Tyler, IATA's Director General and Chief Executive Officer. He continued: "There are, however, some serious trends which are not in the industry's favor. Companies continue to 'on-shore' their manufacturing supply chains. The world's top 20 economies implemented some 23% more protectionist measures last year than in 2009. "These factors are a major part of the reason why we are not seeing trade growth of 5-6%, which we would expect to see at the current level of domestic production. Currently trade and domestic production growth is running at about the same level. The World Trade Organisation's agreement in Bali late last year gives hope for invigorated world trade. It's important that governments keep their commitments."Regionally, the IATA reported that the vast majority of the growth in cargo was among airlines in the Middle East and Europe, which recorded 11.9% and 5.5% growth, respectively, compared to the previous February.Asia-Pacific carriers rose by just 0.1% in February, while North American airlines contracted 0.3% year-on-year. Latin American airlines climbed 6.1%, continuing the trend started in the second half of last year, while African airline freight volumes dropped 5.2%, which continued weakness seen in the final quarter of 2013. NR