Worldwide air cargo traffic up 14% in January-October

Worldwide air cargo traffic up 14% in January-October    Worldwide air cargo traffic rose 14 percent for the period January-October, the latest statistics from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) show.
   “You see growth in all the major regions,” said Anthony Concil, spokesman for the association of airlines, which produces the statistics. He cited higher-than-average growth of the Asia Pacific region, amounting to 15 percent, when measured in freight-ton-kilometers; and the Middle East, where cargo traffic rose 24 percent in January-October. Cargo traffic in North America increased 12 percent.
   While worldwide cargo demand was up 12 percent, measured in freight-ton-kilometers, capacity measured in available ton-kilometers increased only 10 percent during the January-October period, IATA said.
   After three difficult years in both the passenger and air freight sectors since 2000, IATA believes the international airline market is recovering.
   “Despite a negative economic environment and continued uncertainty in the price of oil, international traffic is growing at breakneck speed,” said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s director general and chief executive officer. “Unfortunately traffic growth and profitability do not always walk hand in hand and we still expect industry losses in excess of $4 billion for this year.”
   Bisignani said depreciation of the U.S. dollar improves the competitiveness of U.S. carriers and provides some relief to non-U.S. carriers “battling the continuing extraordinary price of fuel.”