Air freight demand was up 6.9 percent in January, as export orders increased and the shipping of consumer electronic parts witnessed a steady rise, IATA said in its monthly update. Africa had the biggest regional jump in demand, 24.3 percent, but from a low base as it makes up only 1.6 percent of the world total. In the busier freight regions, Europe was again in the lead the pack with an 8.7 percent increase.
Globally, the 6.9 percent increase in freight tonne km was based on a capacity rise of 3.5 percent, so there was a resulting 1.3 percentage point lift in freight load factor to 42.1 percent.