India a bright spot in slowing air cargo global market

The air freight market in India grew 7.3% in May year on year against the slowdown in the industry slowed down, reveals the latest statistics available with Airports Authority of India (AAI).

The AAI operates most of the civil aviation airports in the country and is a partner in public-private partnership airport projects in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

About 243.860 tonne of freight was carried in May 2016 as against 227190 tonne a year ago. Out of the total, about 152,950 tonne was meant for international movement while the rest of it about 90,910 tonne was for the domestic market. A year ago, around 139,720 tonne of freight saw international movement while another 87,470 tonne was in the domestic market, representing 9.5% growth for international cargo and 3.9% for domestic freight movement.

The freight movement is an indicator of the growth or slowness of an economy. However, all is not well with the global cargo industry, it seems with the freight movements slowing down in most of the markets due to varied reasons.

As per the figures released by International Air Transport Association (IATA), a trade body representing around 265 global airlines, controlling 83% of global air traffic, the global air freight growth demand slowed during May. IATA, which measured the freight movement in available freight tonne kilometres (AFTKs), claimed that the growth fell to 0.9% year-on-year basis. "Global trade has basically moved sideways since the end of 2014, taking air cargo with it. Hopes for a stronger 2016 are fading as economic and political uncertainty increases. Air cargo is vital to the global economy. But the business environment is extremely difficult, and there are few signs of any immediate relief," said Tony Tyler, director general and CEO, IATA.

The data available with IATA revealed that the airlines from Asia Pacific regions reported a 0.7% fall in demand while North American carriers saw a decline in demand by 0.2% percent due to the strength of US dollar, which has kept the US exports market under pressure. Similarly, Latin American airlines saw air cargo growth nosediving by 9.7%, particularly in the region's largest economy of Brazil.

On the other hand, European airline witnessed a 4.5% growth, mostly due to increase in export orders in Germany. Also, in the Middle eastern countries, the 3.2% growth in May 2016 was is still a fifth of the pace registered in May 2015. African countries saw car cargo increasing a measly 0.3%.

India's GDP grew by 7.6% during the year 2015-16, making the country the fastest growing major economy in the world, while China, which had a dream economic growth run in past few decades, grew 6.7%.

a_shahakar@dnaindia.net