As per IATA’s latest statistics, air cargo traffic in July fell by 9.7 per cent year-on-year in cargo tonne kilometres terms – the fifth month in a row to register a drop compared with a year earlier. The association said several factors should be noted when considering the figures, “new export orders, a leading indicator of cargo demand, decreased in all markets, except China which began a sharp upward trend in June. The statement read, “The Russia-Ukraine war continues to impair cargo capacity as several airlines based in Russia and Ukraine were key cargo players. However, there were some positives. IATA pointed out that cargo traffic is not that far off 2019 levels—it was 3.5 per cent down on two years ago in July—and that global goods trade continued to recover in the second quarter.