London – The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said that the global air freight demand grew to 8.2% year-on-year in October, achieving the fastest growth in 18 months, which reflects a positive activity in the market during this time of the year.

Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s director general and CEO said that it remains to be seen how long this growth trend will endure after the year-end peak period and we still face headwinds from weak global trade.

IATA mentioned many factors which are likely impacting October’s positive results – including the potential modal shift to air cargo following the collapse of the Hanjin Shipping Company.

It also said that the global demand on air travel jumped by 5.8% in October; remarkable growth dominated airlines of the Middle East and Asia and the Pacific while slowness hit the growth of the North America carriers.

However, according to Juniac, the decline of the negative impact of terrorist attacks and the political instability in some regions in the world, which caused the constant drop in revenues and contributed in encouraging travel, has stopped.