Growth in Middle East cargo volumes is not necessarily a sign that the region is recovering from a global slowdown, but rather that carriers, particularly those from United Arab Emirates have grown their market share, according to International Air Transport Association (IATA) regional vice president for the Middle East and North Africa, Majdi Sabri.

Middle Eastern airlines have boosted available freight tonne kilometres by 11.4 per cent between January and May this year, compared to a 10.4 per cent decline for the whole industry.

The Middle East outperformed a number of leading international hubs for airfreight shipments in the first quarter of 2009, with volumes declining by 48 per cent in Brussels, 21.5 per cent in Singapore, 21.2 per cent in Frankfurt, 20.8 per cent in Los Angeles and 18.8 per cent in Bangalore.

During the first quarter of 2009 the UAE, for instance, saw increases of 49.7 per cent at Al Ain International Airport, 16.9 per cent in Fujairah International Airport and 13.3 per cent in Sharjah International Airport, when compared to the same period in 2008. Volumes at Dubai International Airport and Abu Dhabi International Airport – the country’s largest airfreight hubs – also climbed marginally, by 0.4 per cent and 0.8 per cent respectively.