Air cargo volume in Europe set to grow 22 per cent

Air cargo volume between western Europe and the rest of the world is expected to grow by more than 22 percent between 1999 and 2003, according to a report by Atlas Air, Inc. which was based on projections provided by MergeGlobal, a US-based transportation consulting firm.

And for the same period, European trade with the Asia Pacific region is anticipated to grow almost twice as fast as trade with North America. But the volume of goods transported between Europe and North America will continue to outpace the volume between Europe and the Asia Pacific region by 29 percent by 2003.

The United Kingdom is the top importer over the other western European countries, but Germany leads in overall import/export volume. Cargo between Italy and the world is expected to increase most rapidly at a compounded rate of 5.8 percent each year, and by 2003 it is expected to move from fifth to fourth place after Germany, the UK and France in terms of overall trade volume.

The fastest growing and largest sector of goods exported by EU countries is electrical and industrial supplies, including coaxial cable, computer power supply units, printed circuits and switches.

Computers and computer-related equipment are expected to remain the top items Europe imports from the rest of the world through 2003, with telecommunications equipment is expected to grow the fastest at a compounded rate of 11.9 percent per year.