Global Air Cargo Up Slightly, Profits Prediction Raised

Most recent figures for international air cargo show growth of 2.4% for February 2007 after January's increase of 3.0% year over year. The statistics come from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The Association's 260 airline members include the world's passenger and cargo carriers, representing 94% of international scheduled air traffic.

For the month, Middle East demand for international air cargo was up 15.4%, the largest growth for any region  year over year. Latin America cargo declined by 20.2%. The Asia-Pacific region was up 4.4% while Africa (down 2.0%), Europe (down 0.6%) and North America (down 0.5%) lagged last year's totals. For the first two months of 2007, air freight was up 2.6% for all regions.

Early this month, IATA raised its estimates for global airline profits, combining both passenger and freight figures, to $3.8 billion. At the same time, looking to 2008, the Association sees net industry profits climbing to $7.6 billion. For 2007, IATA projects revenues to grow 4.4% year over year, to $469 billion. Included is a jump of 4.7% in passenger revenues to $375 billion and cargo revenues of $456 billion, a climb of 3.7%.