Demand for freight traffic in Central Asia is outpacing growth in the overall market, and the region’s air carriers should take advantage of its location between Asia and Europe.
As part of the Caspian Air Cargo Summit “Caspian Air Cargo 2017”, which was held in Baku (Azerbaijan) from October 9 to 11, Ken de Witt Hamer, Director of World ACD Market Data, spoke about some of the industry development trends in the region. According to World ACD Market Data, from August 2015 to August 2017, the overall freight market showed a compound annual growth rate of 6%.
The market growth rate in Central Asia was 11%. In the first 8 months of this year, the growth rate dropped to 4%, mainly due to a decrease in indicators for Russia. When recalculated without taking into account data on Russia, the Central Asian market shows an increase of 18%.
Import data show the following growth rates: Asia-Pacific – 19%,
Europe — 21%,
East and South Asia – 15%,
North America – 32%.
If we consider the highest annual growth rates (for 8 months of 2017) for pairs of countries in the region, growth is observed in the following areas:
Türkiye – Kyrgyzstan 48%,
Türkiye – Kazakhstan 45%,
Netherlands – Kazakhstan 159%,
Germany – Kazakhstan 23%,
Türkiye – Uzbekistan 123%.
In terms of imports in the region, steady growth is shown by:
Hong Kong – Ukraine 50%,
China – Ukraine 43%,
China – Kazakhstan 46%,
China – Uzbekistan 64%
A drop in the volume of air cargo from China to Kyrgyzstan by 4% was recorded.
At the same time, data on revenues (in US dollars) that air cargo brings to the region show a slight decline compared to the previous year:
perishable goods – by 4%,
dangerous goods – 3%,
live animals – 16%,
valuable cargo – 6%
On the other hand, the volume of transportation of general cargo increased by 1%, high-tech cargo – by 4%, pharmaceuticals – by 5%.
In addition, according to de Witt Heimer, European airlines accounted for the most cargo in the region this year, with AirBridgeCargo the largest carrier and Asia-Pacific Airlines the largest market share.
In the future, a continuous increase in freight traffic in the region is expected, which is associated with favorable forecasts: in 2019-2022. GDP will rise by 3% annually.
The 20 largest transport companies occupy a smaller market share in the region (33% of incoming and 14% of outgoing cargo flows) than in the overall market, where their share is 43%.
De Witt Heimer also noted the great development opportunities that exist in the region for air carriers. According to the expert, carriers can benefit from import and export operations in Central Asia, as well as trade links between Asia and Europe.
The international air cargo development summit “Caspian Air Cargo 2017” is the largest two-day forum in the region, which brings together key leaders in the international air cargo market and pays special attention to the development of the industry in the CIS countries and Central Asia.
More than 200 forum participants cover issues related to innovation and improvement of the air cargo transportation system, establishing closer contacts with potential partners, developing the oil and gas industry, and improving supply chains. This year, the focus is on the Iranian market.