The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) has predicted that the country’s aviation sector will outperform the Railways and shipping lines in coming years. In a study, Assocham has shown that between 2002 and 2007, air-freight grew by 19 per cent, compared to 10.3 per cent growth in cargo shipping and 9.2 per cent in rail-freight. The deployment of more of dedicated cargo aircraft on both international and domestic routes, it is felt, will further cut into the market shares of rail and shipping. The study notes with concern the slowdown in key infrastructure sectors, particularly rail-freight which, in first half of the current year, grew by 6.9 per cent as compared to 7.4 per cent in the same period last year. The freight traffic of the domestic airlines during the period jumped by 34 per cent and international traffic by 15 per cent.