News / The mood in air cargo is upbeat, but watch for pressure on profitability

An upbeat air cargo industry is this week celebrating a return to growth and noted positive structural changes that had seen some goods switch to air.

But the mood was tempered by political “protectionist rhetoric” and the possibility of trade wars.

Speaking this morning at the World Cargo Symposium in Abu Dhabi, George Anjaparidze, IATA’s senior economist, noted that while world trade remained weak last year, it was outperformed by air cargo for the second time since 2010.

“There is room for cautious optimism for a moderate acceleration of ...