The Middle Eastern carriers witnessed 11% expansion in freight demand in January this year against the global growth of about 5%, according to the International Air Transport Association (Iata).

“Growth was solid across all regions, with Middle Eastern carriers growing the fastest (10.7%),” Iata said in its report.

Volumes grew on the back of the growth in Europe and other regions. In addition, carriers in the region continue to expand their networks and capacity, it said, adding capacity growth, though, remained broadly in line with demand, increasing 11.5%.

Asia-Pacific carriers grew by 3.8% compared to January last year. Trade volumes in the region have rebounded as demand from Europe and North America for Asian manufactured goods improves.

However, latest indicators show that the Chinese economy could be slowing down, which would impact air cargo in the coming months.

In addition, with Chinese New Year falling on 31 January, there may be some impact on February volumes. Capacity grew considerably faster than demand, at 9.7%.

European airlines, responsible for 22.5% of air freight, continued the momentum established in the second half of 2013, recording a 6% rise in FTKs (freight tonne kilometers) compared to the previous January.

Eurozone business activity surveys show the strongest rate of increase in two-and-a-half years. If these feed through into trade volume growth, then it should be positive for European air cargo in the coming months.

Capacity was up just 3.8%, leading to a strengthening in the load factor to 45.6%.

North American airlines reported the weakest rise in volumes, just 0.7%, reflecting subdued January business activity. However, the underlying trend of manufacturing in the US is positive, which should lead to an increase in exports. Capacity fell 0.9%.

Latin American carriers recorded solid growth of 6.8% against January last year, a welcome improvement after the slow growth of 2.4% in 2013. Expected growth in trade volumes should underpin further cargo expansion but weakness in Brazil, Latin America’s largest economy, could dampen the growth potential in the region. Capacity fell 0.6%.

African airlines also grew ahead of the average trend in 2013, reporting a 4.1% rise in FTKs compared to a year ago.

With signs of growth slowing in South Africa and other major regional economies, freight growth could still be sluggish over the next few months, it said, adding that capacity grew almost in line with demand, expanding 3.9% compared to January 2013.