“With January cargo demand down 14.9% and capacity up 3.9%, 2023 began with challenging business conditions. This is accompanied by ongoing uncertainty, including the war in Ukraine, inflation and labor shortages,” said Willie Walsh, CEO IATA.
“But there is solid ground for some cautious optimism regarding air cargo,” he added, noting that yields remain higher than before the corona virus.
CEO IATA He claimed that China’s faster-than-expected transition from its zero-covid policy has stabilized production conditions in the largest source market for air cargo, which he says will provide a much-needed boost in demand as companies increase their involvement in China.
in the organization IATA We noted that in January 2023, the carriers in Asia and the Pacific reported a decrease of approximately 19% in air cargo volumes from year to year, although an improvement in performance compared to the 21.2% decrease seen in December.
“Airlines in the region continue to be affected by lower levels of trade and manufacturing activity and disruptions to supply chains due to the residual effects of the Covid restrictions imposed by China. In addition, the position of the Lunar New Year would have affected cargo volumes in January,” he said IATA In a statement, he added that the available capacity in the region increased by 8.8% compared to January 2022.
In North America, the carriers recorded an 8.7% decrease in cargo volumes compared to the period of this month in January in 2022 – a slight decrease in performance compared to 8.5% in December.
Meanwhile, European carriers saw the weakest performance of all regions, with cargo volumes down 20.4% in January 2023 compared to the same month in 2022, marking a further drop from the 19.4% decline recorded in December. According to IATA, European airlines continue to be affected by the war in Ukraine. Unlike other regions, capacity in Europe also decreased by 9.3% in January.
Middle Eastern carriers experienced an 11.8% year-over-year decline in cargo volumes in January, an improvement on a -14.4% decline the previous month. Capacity in the region increased by 9.6% compared to January 2022.
Whereas the carriers from Latin America reported a 4.6% increase in cargo volumes in January compared to the corresponding period in 2022. According to data IATA, it was the “strongest performance” of all regions and a significant improvement in performance compared to December, which saw no growth. Capacity also increased by 34.4% year-on-year.
Airlines in Africa reported cargo volumes down 9.5% in January 2023 compared to January 2022, a slight performance improvement compared to the 10% drop recorded in the previous month.