Air cargo had an “exceptional” month in December with volume growth of 9.4 per cent and revenues increasing 4.5 per cent, according to WorldACD Market Data.

It says December was a “friendly” month for air cargo, with Christmas on a Sunday meaning more business days than the previous year but few would have predicted such strong volume growth.

December was only the second month of the year after November to see a year-on-year revenue increase, and origins Europe and North America recorded strong December business at a par with October.

WorldACD says it has not seen a better quarterly year-on-year performance than in the fourth quarter of 2016 since 2010, with chargeable weight increasing 7.5 per cent and direct ton kilometres up 8.3 per cent.

Fourth quarter yields in 2016 were six per cent higher than the third quarter, with the strengthening US dollar and yields in other currencies growing even more, which may have been helped by rising oil prices.