However, the rise was from an exceptionally low base, caused by the timing of Chinese New Year, which occurred in February this year, skewing year-on-year comparisons as many Asian factories close, and last year the holiday period occurred in January.
Compared to the level of Freight Tonne Kilometers (FTK) in December, airfreight volumes in January were 0.9 percent lower. Year-on-year, capacity expanded by 2.1 percent and the global load factor stood at 41.9 percent.
"Our forecast remains for modest demand growth of 1.4 percent. But with weak load factors, yields are going to continue to be under severe downward pressure," said Tony Tyler, IATA's director general and CEO.
According to the report, Asia-Pacific carriers, which represent some 39.2 percent of global air cargo, saw year-on-year demand growth of 7.1 percent while capacity was down 0.4 percent. Adjusting for the effect of Chinese New Year, it is estimated that the region's carriers saw demand growth of about 3.0 percent.
European airlines reported demand growth of 1.2 percent year-on-year, which was half the 2.4 percent growth in capacity. Persistent economic weakness in the Eurozone, which is a major market for airfreighted consumer goods, is dampening global world trade growth, and will limit the growth in airfreight volumes in 2013.
