IAG Cargo posted a revenue of €1.02 billion (US$1.08 billion) for 2016, a year-on-year decrease of 6.6%, according to consolidated financial results released by parent International Airlines Group.

According to IAG Cargo, commercial revenue fell 8.0% after adjusting 2015’s figures for a direct comparison. Overall yield for 2016 decreased by 9.3% year-on-year on a like-for-like basis, even though volumes were up by 3.0%. Available capacity grew by 10.5%, partially reflecting the integration of Aer Lingus into the IAG network.

In total, IAG Cargo carried 849,000 tonnes of cargo in 2016, which was 2.9% lower than in 2015.

“These are resilient results in the face of challenging market conditions,” said Drew Crawley, CEO of IAG Cargo. “Growing supply from freighter and new-generation passenger fleets has continued to outstrip flat demand for general freight. Our focus on aggressive cost management combined with premium product growth has enabled us to offset some yield pressure and grow our revenue share of the market this year.”

Crawley said that the year started off well but the second and third quarters suffered from diminishing demand, which led to significant yield pressures.

“The final peak months of the year brought some improvement, driven by stronger than expected consumer sales in December and a high demand for last-minute e-commerce products,” he said. “Our new Critical product performed well during the peak, processing over 600 emergency shipments. More broadly our premium product mix now sits at 20%, with our industry-leading Constant Climate product continuing to see significant volume growth year on year, shipping over 40,000 consignments in 2016.”

Apart from a wider Irish network as a result of the integration of Aer Lingus, IAG Cargo also launched operations to Lima, San Juan, San Jose, CA, San Jose, Costa Rica, and Tehran during 2016. The carrier is scheduled to launch Santiago, New Orleans, Fort Lauderdale and Oakland in 2017.

“We will continue to invest in our infrastructure and our technology through 2017 to make our operation as efficient as possible,” Crawley said. “In addition to the continued development of our new Premia building we will be implementing a new warehouse management system that will transform the way freight is processed through our premium operation.

He added that IAG Cargo would introduce a number of innovations in the year ahead to help drive the digitization of air freight and to improve the customer experience.

“Despite a difficult year for the industry, we have delivered a resilient performance,” said Crawley. “We will continue to bring further benefits to our customers by understanding their needs and investing in all areas of our business through infrastructure improvements, network expansion, new partnerships and technology advances. We remain confident in our strategy for 2017 and beyond.”