After a mild slowdown in October, the global air freight industry saw promising signs in November, with an 8.8 percent increase in FTK demand compared to the previous year. 2017 had featured strong air freight statistics, but many experts feared that growth was coming to an end. November’s increase suggests that the industry will continue to expand into 2018.
While there are many different ways to measure air freight growth, virtually all show positive signs. Along with a global FTK demand increase of 8.8 percent, there was also a worldwide increase in freight capacity of 4 percent. Likewise, load factor increased by 2.2 percent.
What is most remarkable about this growth is that it is happening consistently across the globe. Every region in the world saw a substantial increase in FTK demand. The region with the least growth was the Middle East, which posted a still-strong 6.6 percent increase; on the other side of the spectrum, Africa saw a staggering 17.5 percent increase. Likewise, freight capacity expanded in every region, with growth rates ranging from 1.2 percent in Asia-Pacific to 24 percent in Africa. The air freight boom is thus not limited to one country or region, but is benefiting all of humanity in large measure.
