IAG suffers turnover drop in “tough” air freight market

Turnover at IAG Cargo fell 7.2% year-on-year to €1,117m (£969.2 million) during 2019 as the air cargo giant suffered as part of the overall drop in air cargo volumes.

Lynne Embleton, chief executive at IAG Cargo, said: “It has been a tough year for the air cargo industry. The decline in our reported revenues for 2019 reflects these challenging macroeconomic and market conditions, whilst the strength of our network and products has shielded us from the worst of the drop-in demand.”

Last month the IATA said that 2019 saw the worst drop in air cargo volumes for ten years, falling 3.3% in freight tonne kms year-on-year.

Embleton also pointed to increased use of automation technologies in IAG as a way to improve efficiencies.

“Our quest to use innovation to improve how air cargo works has continued apace. In December, we saw the successful trial of autonomous drone technology within our Madrid warehouse.

“We are now confident that the technology will help to improve the efficiency and reliability of our operations,” she said. “As part of this year’s Hangar 51, our group wide innovation programme, we have been working alongside a start-up that uses machine learning technology to optimise data extraction processes.”