Demand For African Airlines Slides By 3.1% In March

A report by the International Air Transport Association, IATA, has shown that African airlines witnessed a 3.1 per cent plunge in demand in March 2016 compared to the same period in 2015.

A more modest drop of 1.6 per cent was seen in year-on-year first quarter performance. On the back of long-haul expansion, the available freight on kilometres (AFTKs) for African airlines surged by 22.6 per cent year-on-year over the first quarter of 2016. This is more than double the pace of any other region in recent months.

The IATA demand growth data for global air freight markets for March 2016 further showed a 2.0 per cent drop in volumes measured in freight ton kilometres (FTKs) compared to the same period last year. In contrast, freight capacity, measured in AFTKs rose by 6.9 per cent, putting increased pressure on already struggling yields.

The weak results, according to the reported posted on IATA website yesterday, reflected subdued growth in world trade, exaggerated by the comparison to a particularly strong start to 2015, when air freight volumes were boosted by the effects of the United States west coast seaports strike.

The most significant fall in demand was reported by carriers in Asia-Pacific and North America. Combined they account for around 60 per cent of global freight traffic and reported declines of 5.2 per cent, and 1.8 per cent, respectively.