(IATA: Montreal) – At the March 2, 2009, International Air Transport Association (IATA) World Cargo Symposium in Bangkok, Thailand, IATA called on the cargo supply chain to battle the current air cargo crisis by improving security, delivering a better product, and boosting efficiency.

“The industry is in crisis and nobody knows that better than our cargo colleagues,” says Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s director general and CEO in a recorded message to the 700 industry experts attending IATA’s World Cargo Symposium. “Cargo demand has fallen off a cliff. After a shocking 22.6 percent decrease in December, it dropped a further 23.2 percent in January. The continued decline in cargo markets is a clear sign that we have not yet seen the bottom of this economic crisis.”

Air cargo represents about 10 percent of industry revenues, according to IATA. As 35 percent of the value of goods traded internationally is transported by air, air cargo is a barometer of global economic health.

In December 2008, IATA forecasted that in 2009 freight volumes would fall to 5 percent. Combined with a decrease in yields, this would result in a 9 percent drop in freight revenues to $54 billion.

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