International cargo transportation of Middle East airlines for the second month in a row exceeds the pre-crisis level

In January 2021, the volume of international cargo transportation in the region increased by 6% compared to January 2019.

The region's key routes were two directions: the Middle East - Asia and the Middle East - North America with growth of 15.1% and 13.9%, respectively.

This indicator allowed the Middle East region to take the third place in terms of the volume of international cargo transportation. Only Africa and North America were ahead, where growth was 22.4% and 8.5%, respectively, compared to 2019.

As for the demand for air cargo transportation, it has improved in all regions compared to what it was two years earlier. The most notable increases in demand were recorded in North America and Latin America. In the Middle East region, the demand for freight transportation in January 2021 increased by 6% compared to January 2019. In December 2020, this figure for the Middle East was 2.4%.

Middle East airlines' load factor increased 56.9% in January 2021, up from 44.4% in 2019. This also allowed the region to take third place among other regions. The load was higher in the Asia-Pacific region (66.5%) and Europe (62.7%), where December growth was exactly the same (50.4%).

Worldwide seasonally adjusted cargo profitability declined slightly in January compared to December, but remained strong according to the IATA CargoIS database. The best month since the start of the pandemic for all regions was January this year, while the maximum market drawdown occurred in May last year.

During the pandemic, ZetAvia continues to transport cargo on its IL-76 aircraft to the countries of the Middle East, Europe and Africa. Global trends are no exception for ZetAvia.

Oleg Sergeev