OPINION
Airport World
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Loads better
Airport World editor , Joe Bates , reflects on the importance of cargo to the world ’ s gateways .
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As many of you already know , the last few years have been particularly tough for cargo , with many of the world ’ s biggest operators – airports , airlines and freight forwarders – feeling the pinch in terms of a dip in traffic .
The downturn in fortunes began with the global financial crisis of 2007-2008 , which led to a two-year slump in traffic before a mini-recovery in 2010 . Since then , cargo volumes have remained more or less static .
ACI ’ s preliminary figures for 2012 show that while the world ’ s top airfreight hubs , Hong Kong ( HKG ) and Memphis ( MEM ), achieved growth of 2.2 % and 2.5 % respectively , more than half of the world ’ s 30 busiest cargo gateways ( 57 %) reported a decline in tonnage – including six of the top 10 .
It was a very different picture in 2007 , the last really strong year for freight , when only six of the top 30 biggest cargo performers and just one of the top 10 cargo airports posted negative results .
There were also huge regional differences in performance in 2012 , with both Africa (+ 2.1 %) and the Middle East (+ 4.2 %) enjoying healthy upturns in volume , while Europe ( -3%) reported a decline and tonnage in Asia-Pacific (+ 0.5 %), Latin America / Caribbean ( -0.2%) and North America (+ 0.2 %) remained about the same .
Explaining the 2012 results , ACI ’ s economics director , Rafael Echevarne , commented : “ Amid the significant downside risks in the Euro area and the fiscal deadlock in the United States throughout the year , growth in airfreight came to an overall halt in 2012 . However , as the global economy and international trade picks up steam , we are
optimistic that we will see higher growth rates for freight traffic in 2013 .”
Indeed , the latest ACI / DKMA forecast produced for Airport World ( see page 37 ) predicts that global tonnage will enjoy ‘ modest growth ’ of around 3.6 % per annum over the next five years , including an upturn of around 2.9 % this year .
In the light of this new found optimism for airfreight , we thought it only right that we should turn the spotlight on cargo in our first issue of 2013 , and contemplate what possibly lies ahead for this important , yet often overlooked side of the business .
As a result , in this issue we discover how the world ’ s busiest cargo gateways are faring ; consider the importance of supply chains ; review the success of all-cargo gateways ; and round-up some of the latest cargo news from across the globe .
In addition , we hear how TIACA secretary general , Daniel Fernandez , believes that the worst of cargo downturn could be over for the international cargo industry and hopes for a more positive year ahead .
But it ’ s not all about cargo , as this issue also has features on airport gardens , intermodalism , avian radar , leadership , the A380 , airfield safety , retail , infrastructure development and a comprehensive round-up of The Trinity Forum 2013 in Abu Dhabi .
I hope you enjoy this action packed edition , and look forward to seeing you at the Economics and Finance Conference in SIngapore . AW
AIRPORT WORLD / FEBRUARY-MARCH 2013
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