Asia, in particular China, is key to rejuvenating growth in air cargo, a US$6 trillion industry that has suffered from sustained stagnation since the 2008 financial crisis, and e-commerce is expected to spearhead that revival, global aviation and air-cargo leaders meeting in Zhengzhou, China, for the first Air Cargo Development Forum said yesterday.
Air cargo, which transports 35 per cent of global trade by value, has yet to return to pre-recession levels by volume, but fresh data showed acceleration in traffic growth.
During the first half of 2014, world freight traffic grew 3.7 per cent, almost one point higher over the 12-month rolling period, according to Airport Council International.
Asia, by far the world’s largest cargo market and responsible for 39 per cent of the total volume, recorded growth above the worldwide average in 2013, with eastern Asia growing at 4.5 per cent.
“China is a very important market and that is why we are here,” said Arun Mishra, regional director of the International Civil Aviation Organisation, the organiser of the first forum of its kind.
China represents 45 per cent of the region’s air-cargo market while Chek Lap Kok in Hong Kong is the world’s largest cargo airport, according to the council’s director general Angela Gittens.