KUALA LUMPUR: The International Air Transport Association (IATA) expects 2014 to be a challenging year for the air cargo industry after a tough year last year.

Its Director General and Chief Executive Officer Tony Tyler said world trade continued to expand more rapidly than demand for air cargo but suffered from increasing protectionist measures by governments.

"The relative good fortunes of passenger markets compared to cargo make it difficult for airlines to match capacity to demand," he said in a statement.

Tyler said the dynamics in which the air cargo industry operates were changing, but air cargo's basic value proposition remained the same.

He said industry players needed to get better at delivering it through improved technology and modern processes as customers still need speed, quality, reliability and efficiency.
"This will be a year of change for air cargo," he said.

Tyler pointed out that a key measure of success would be in passing the tipping point on e-air waybill implementation.

That would lay the foundation for further improvements for a modern paperless air cargo industry that can only be achieved by aligning all stakeholders, including governments, in a common vision, he said.

According to IATA, Asia-Pacific carriers, which have nearly 40 per cent of the global air freight market, saw cargo activities shrink by 1.0 per cent last year.

Freight volumes fell 0.3 per cent in December and declined 1.0 per cent last year as a whole compared to 2012.

"The economic performance of the region was patchy, as was growth in trade volumes, although these have picked up in recent weeks," IATA said.

Despite shrinking demand, capacity grew by 0.8 per cent in 2013, it said. -- Bernama