Airports Council International (ACI), the airport trade body, has released preliminary data which asserts that global international air freight tonnage expanded by 4.3% in 2016.
ACI stated: “Air cargo markets experienced a revival in the second half of 2016. Despite the looming uncertainty regarding trade policies in the face of protectionist sentiments, heightened business confidence through inventory build-ups and increased export orders remained apparent for the short-term.”
ACI have also released growth estimates for the top 20 cargo airports, which they claim represented 44% of global air cargo tonnage (domestic and international cargo) in 2016. For international freight, the top 20 cumulatively had growth of 3.4%, short of the global figure of 4.3%.
By far the best performing airport was Doha, where tonnage increased by 20.7%. Other relatively strong performers included Singapore (+6.3%), Leipzig (+6.3%), Bangkok (+5.9%), Shanghai (+5.3%) and Incheon (+4.5%). All American airports in the top 20 reported negative growth.
Source: ACI
Note: As always with airport rankings and growth rates, it is important to not accept them at face value as data that provides definitive information about trade flows, as Cargo Facts expands on.
