Air cargo exports from the Asia- Pacific region, including India, rose two per cent in October fuelled by a spurt in foreign trade activities in the emerging Asian markets, IATA said today.
Asia-Pacific carriers' cargo traffic grew two per cent, with capacity going up 4.1 per cent in October compared to the same month in 2012, as "Asian cargo volumes benefited from a resurgence in trade across the region," the International Air Transport Association's latest cargo figures showed.
"Both export and import volumes rose strongly in emerging Asian markets, reversing a mid-year decline. This bodes well for further growth in air freight in the months to come," the IATA said in its latest report on air cargo traffic.
The growth in the Asia-Pacific region was primarily led by a stronger Chinese economy where manufacturing activity hit a seven month high.
However, the strongest growth was in the Middle East where cargo carriers grew 12.3 per cent compared to a year ago, the figures showed.
All regions but Africa grew this October compared to a year ago, but Europe also showed some "healthy improvement." Europe and the Middle East combined have carried three quarters of the cargo increase over the past six months.
"Since mid-year, we have seen modest but sustained growth in cargo fed by stronger business confidence and improving trade flows," Tony Tyler, IATA Director General and CEO, said.
Terming air cargo as "a very tough business", he said matching capacity to demand "has been difficult in an environment where passenger traffic is growing more robustly. There is some evidence that the fall in load factors has stabilised, but yields remain under pressure.
