Airports Council International (ACI) World yesterday published the latest edition of the World Airport Traffic Forecasts (WATF) and forecasted in 2040 – 20 per cent of all air cargo will be handled in the US.
WATF also estmiated that China and the United Arab Emirates, will be the second and third largest markets, and will together handle another fifth of the 203.4 million tonnes of global air cargo volumes.
In the short term, however, while there was strong growth in air cargo volumes in 2017, ACI said it is unlikely that 2018 will repeat 2017’s growth rates, given the adverse headwinds in trade relations and heightened geopolitical tensions that have played out this year.
ACI World director general, Angela Gittens said there are some concerns around cargo in the short term, but in the longer-term the outlook is more positive.
She added: “While this is welcome, surging air transport demand threatens to outstrip current and planned airport infrastructure in many regions around the world. These physical capacity considerations and potential bottlenecks in air transport infrastructure pose challenges to the global industry in accommodating the strong forecast future demand.
“Geopolitical tensions and protectionist policies that retreat from further economic integration and air transport liberalization could also have an adverse effect on the air transport industry.
“The aviation industry must come together to respond to these challenges and help to ensure communities continue to reap the social and economic benefits of air service growth. Policy at a national and global level should be focused on facilitating sustainable growth over the long term.”
The WATF comprises traffic forecasts for more than 110 countries and presents detailed metrics which include total passengers (broken down into international and domestic traffic), total air cargo, and total aircraft movements up to 2040.
