A very warm welcome to our new blog at AirFreight.com where we'll be taking a regular look at the North American air freight industry, providing reports, analysis and looking at the issues that impact it. The blog aims to be a resource for those interested or involved in air cargo, urgent shipping and the transportation sector and we value and welcome your input. We're a proud member of the The Expedited Group of Companies who each specialize in delivering professional and dependable urgent freight shipping by air and road.
2014 has so far been a much more encouraging year for the economy overall, transportation in general and the worldwide Air Freight industry specifically. The urgent transportation of critical freight is a natural offshoot of expanding economies and the dividends are being seen globally for those involved in the sector.
The latest report Airports Council International (ACI) reiterates that growth with their August update recently published. According to the study worldwide air freight shipping (total volume) increased by 5.8% overall during the month based on year-over-year data, here in the United States that growth was less pronounced but still returned positive number with year-over-year increases of 2.1%. Air Freight growth in total tonnage moved was even more encouraging reaching a 7.5% improvement globally with approximately 5.1 million metric tonnes shipped during the month.
Leading the way in terms of global regions has been the Middle East where a booming economy has seen volume accelerate by some 20.5% year-over-year with further expansion at Dubai World Central - Al Maktoum International Airport being a major catalyst for this. The airport which only opened in June of 2010 for cargo flights and in 2011 for passenger flights has seen capacity predictions of air cargo shipping exceeded almost from the moment that operations began. The airport has rapidly become the true hub for Middle Eastern air freight in just a short time. Consider this fact, in August alone that airport processed 80,000 metric tonnes air cargo which was more than five times greater than the volume a year prior.
The Asia-Pacific region also remains very healthy with annual growth for August resting at 8.2%, the vital transport hub of Hong Kong International saw improvements of 8.6% to lead the region.
As a leader in North American Air Freight we're very excited to see these numbers for August. Our comprehensive services include air freight, air cargo charters and extra large cargo shipments throughout the continent. The critical importance of ensuring that your cargo will arrive on time underpins everything we do and helps drive your success.