[170117.EN.AIR] United Maintains Lead as North America's Leading Cargo Airline in 2016

UNITED and American posted improvements in cargo demand performances in 2016 while Delta ended the year with demand decreasing.

The latest monthly statistics from the leading airlines show that North America's largest cargo airline, United, recorded the biggest increase in demand for the year. The Chicago-headquartered airline saw cargo traffic increase by 15.6 per cent year on year in 2016 to 2.8 billion cargo tonne miles (CTM).

This is the airline's third annual increase in a row and it is now established as the continent's largest cargo carrier after taking the crown from Delta in 2014.

In December, United saw demand increase by 15.6 per cent year on year to 259 million CTM.

The second busiest of the three major US airlines was American, which saw annual cargo demand edge up by 4.9 per cent on 2015 to 2.4 billion CTM. The improvement follows on from a decline in 2015.

In December, the airline saw demand increase by 12.9 per cent year on year to 219 million CTM, American's second largest percentage increase of the year, according to London's Air Cargo News.

Meanwhile, Delta continued to see cargo demand decline in 2016. The Atlanta-headquartered airline saw cargo traffic in 2016 decline by 9.8 per cent compared with 2015 to 2 billion CTM as it continued to lose ground on United and American.

In December, demand slipped by 3.5 per cent to 165 million CTM, but this was the airline's lowest year-on-year percentage decrease of 2016.

Source : HKSG.