Air freight demand growth gathers pace in July - IATA

(Reuters) - Demand for global air freight rose 5 percent in July, at the fastest rate in almost 18 months, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Tuesday.

The positive result, driven by strong growth in Europe and the Middle East, was despite subdued global trade, IATA said.

Available capacity rose 5.2 percent in the month, and load factors fell by 0.1 percentage point to 41.3 percent.

"July was a positive month for air freight - which is an all too rare occurrence. Despite that, we must recognise that we face some strong headwinds on fundamental aspects of the business," IATA head Alexandre de Juniac said.

"The political rhetoric on both sides of the Atlantic is not encouraging for further trade liberalisation," IATA CEO added.

(Reporting by Bartosz Dabrowski; Editing by Maria Sheahan)