Mideast carriers grow cargo by 13% in October

Dubai: There was a 13 per cent increase in cargo handled by the Middle East carriers in October compared to the same month a year earlier, according to latest figures released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

The region’s carriers are capturing market share in Africa, Central America and Asia Pacific, the aviation watchdog said in its air freight market analysis for October.

The Middle East recorded the largest increase out all other regions, and capacity for the region’s cargo operators rose by 15.8 per cent, according to the data.

The global air freight average increase for October was 5.4 per cent, compared to a year earlier, higher than the 4.8 per cent rise in September.

“World trade volumes have been growing steadily, which has supported the gains seen in air freight volumes,” IATA said in its report.

Africa saw the second highest increase of cargo handled, 9.6 per cent, while capacity dipped 2.4 per cent. Asia Pacific handled 6.7 per cent more cargo in October and capacity rose 5.7 per cent. Europe recorded the lowest growth, just 1.4 per cent, however, this could have been partially driven by the 4.4 per cent increase in capacity in October.