Middle East drives global air cargo growth in Q1 2021

IATA has calculated the contribution of each region to global growth in air freight for the year. As a result, it turned out that the positive balance of the industry since the beginning of the pandemic was provided by three key regions: North America (10.1%), the Middle East (2.2%) and Africa (5.8%).

Of course, ZetAvia, which specializes in cargo transportation to the Middle East, Europe and Africa on IL-76 cargo planes, also made a positive contribution to the development of the regional hub.

The Association notes that annual growth in freight traffic improved in all regions, but remained negative in Europe, Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region.

In the first three months of 2021, IATA estimates industry freight tonne-kilometers (CTKs) are down just 0.6% year-on-year compared to 2019. Seasonally adjusted volumes were also close to pre-crisis values. The IATA believes that the restoration of air cargo transportation is provided by several factors at once. These include increased global trade and industrial production, low inventories compared to sales, increased business confidence and the stability of new export orders. It is noted that the rise in prices for jet fuel could put additional pressure on the already higher rates, and the growing volumes mean that revenue from cargo transportation continues to remain at a record high. Freight demand, which rose sharply in February, remains strong, but capacity constraints are hampering a more dynamic recovery.

I, like most of my colleagues, are confident that the restoration of the aviation industry will continue throughout 2021, and the tariffs will remain close to the current ones.

Oleg Sergeev