The UAE will be among the world’s largest international freight markets by 2017, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has said in a new report.
The UAE, which will join the United States, China, Germany, and Hong Kong as the top cargo markets, will contribute more than 700,000 tonnes each to the additional freight volume during the five year period, IATA said in its latest Airline Industry Forecast 2013-2017.
IATA also said that the Middle East market will see a strong compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.8 percent in the review period, second only to Africa which is expected to see four percent growth.
Latin America is also forecast to see a CAGR of 3.8 percent per year, followed by the Asia-Pacific (3.5 percent), Europe and North America (2.4 percent and 2.7 percent respectively).
IATA added that China will supplant Germany as the second largest air freight market in 2017, with the US the biggest.
Vietnam is expected to be the fastest growing country for air freight volumes over the forecasting horizon with a CAGR of 6.6 percent, followed by Bangladesh (5.7 percent), Brazil (5.5 percent), Ethiopia (5.3 percent) and Peru (5.2 percent).
Globally, IATA’s forecast showed that international freight volumes are expected to grow 17 percent over the next five years.
“Air cargo is a key enabler for the movement of high value products and perishable goods around the globe. More than $6 trillion worth of goods is air freighted annually, accounting for around 35% of total world trade,” said Tony Tyler, IATA’s director general and CEO.
“But more recently, the relationship between international trade and GDP has broken down owing to rising trade barriers and ‘on-shoring’ of production. To be ready to take best advantage of possible opportunities, air cargo needs to work together as an industry to improve its competitiveness and enhance the quality of its service to customers.”
Earlier this week, IATA said airlines in the Middle East will report the strongest international passenger growth in the world until 2017 with the UAE adding almost as many passengers as China.
Middle East-based carrier will see passengers increase by a CAGR of 6.3 percent, IATA said.
It added that the UAE, which includes fast-growing airlines Emirates and Etihad, will add 29.2 million passengers over the forecast period, nearly as many as China.
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