The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has released its latest traffi c results for the fi rst six months of the year showing 2.7 percent growth in freight volumes, well below the 4.6 percent growth recorded for the fullyear in 2006.

Air freight growth was led by airlines in the Middle East during the fi rst half of the year at 11.7 percent. Demand in Asia Pacifi c rose 4.6 percent during the same period, although demand surged to 7.4 percent in June following a 7.6 percent increase in May. Demand growth in Europe was sluggish at 0.7 percent and contracted in North America by -1.2 percent and Latin America at -3.8 percent.

In a related development, the Airports Council International (ACI) has published its annual rankings for the largest cargo airports. The 2006 fi gures showed that cargo volumes rose by 3.6 percent in the year to 85.6 million tonnes. The top three cargo airports were Memphis, Hong Kong and Anchorage, but ranked by international volumes only, the three largest were Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo. The fastest growing airport in the ACI top 10 was Shanghai which reported an increase in international cargo volumes of 14.2 percent.