OPERATIONS
I t ’ s fair to say the air cargo market has endured a difficult couple of years , with dwindling demand hitting revenues hard for much of 2022 and 2023 .
Carriers were left with little option but to temper their activity , reduce capacity and tighten their belts in a bid to fend off fears for the very survival of their organisations .
However , in recent months , some reasons to be cheerful have reared their heads .
Following almost 18 months of consecutive decline , air cargo traffic achieved year-over-year growth in August and continued to do so throughout the remainder of 2023 , according to data from the International Air Transport Association ( IATA ).
And positive progress has continued into 2024 , with the IATA ’ s latest figures indicating overall air cargo demand increased by 18.4 % in January and was up 19.8 % for international operations .
Of course , weak figures from the first half of 2023 should continue to be borne in mind , but optimism is on the rise in some quarters , especially given the booming e-commerce sector .
As Willie Walsh , Director General at the IATA , points out , the counterweight to this is uncertainty over how China ’ s economic slowdown will unfold . supplychaindigital . com 101