Air Cargo Demand Up 9% in February Compared to Pre-COVID Levels

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released February 2021 data for global air cargo markets showing that air cargo demand continued to outperform pre-COVID levels with demand up 9% over February 2019. February demand also showed strong month-on-month growth over January 2021 levels. Volumes have now returned to 2018 levels seen prior to the US-China trade war.  Because comparisons between 2021 and 2020 monthly results are distorted by the extraordinary impact of COVID-19, unless otherwise noted all comparisons to follow are to February 2019 which followed a normal demand pattern.   Global demand, measured in cargo tonne-kilometres (CTKs*), was up 9% compared to February 2019 and +1.5% compared to January 2021. All regions except for Latin America saw an improvement in air cargo demand compared to pre-COVID levels and North America and Africa were the strongest performers. The recovery in global capacity, measured in available cargo tonne-kilometres (ACTKs), stalled owing to new capacity cuts on the passenger side as governments tightened travel restrictions due to the recent spike in COVID-19 cases. Capacity shrank 14.9% compared to February 2019.  The operating conditions remain supportive for air cargo: ​ This story continues here Thank you for reading the Air101 news feed

source http://www.air101.co.uk/2021/04/air-cargo-demand-up-9-in-february.html