Reiterating sentiment expressed recently by a number of players in the airfreight industry, Toll Group chief executive Paul Little has said that airfreight was leading seafreight as the global economic recovery gathers steam. Little also predicted a rebound beginning in the fourth quarter this year.

“Interestingly we’ve probably seen more interest in airfreight than seafreight,” Little said speaking on ABC’s Inside Business program.

“Airfreight, of course, is a direct result of people trying to thin down their inventory levels and needing to get goods to their destination more quickly, but seafreight numbers are starting to come back too,” he said.

Little also indicated that on the back of a number of Asian acquisitions, the Australian company was preparing several relatively modest global forwarding acquisitions aimed at building a substantial position in the European and US markets.