Global airfreight markets achieved a moderate growth of 2.2 percent in June, as the recovery of world trade and improvement in domestic demand in advanced economies have helped bolster volumes over the last three quarters, according to the latest data from Airports Council International (ACI).
The Asia-Pacific region experienced the strongest gains in June compared to the previous year with a rise of 4.5 percent. The Asian hubs of Hong Kong and Shanghai also showed buoyant recoveries compared to the previous year with growth of 7.3 percent and 6.5 percent, respectively. Memphis, the United States’ largest freight hub, decreased slightly by 1.2 percent.
In the first half, air cargo volumes grew 3.7 percent year-over-year, said ACI World’s economics director Rafael Echevarne, even as he warned of the continuing challenges to the industry’s growth.
He noted that the fragile state of the world economy, the recent geopolitical risks in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, and the Ebola outbreak in Western Africa represent significant downside risks for aviation. “Thus, while there is an ongoing sense of optimism for the industry, one should be cognizant of these pitfalls.”
He also pointed out that the airfreight industry has historically remained relatively sluggish “since it has barely surpassed the volumes that existed in the pre-Great Recession era.”
The weakness in the airfreight market over the last decade is largely attributed to a loss in market share to other competing modes of freight shipment such as ocean freight, he continued.
“While the airfreight market appears to have stabilized over the last quarter of 2013 and into 2014 in conjunction with the ongoing recovery in the global economy, the new paradigm shifts toward cheaper modes of delivery means that suppliers of airfreight capacity need to rethink their business model in order to remain competitive.”
‘Above expectations’ for Cathay Pacific
Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways released combined Cathay Pacific and Dragonair traffic figures for July 2014 showing an increase in cargo and mail tonnage compared to the same month last year.
The two airlines carried 146,745 tonnes of cargo and mail in July, an increase of 19.4 percent year-over-year. The cargo and mail load factor rose by 4.4 percentage points to 64.7 percent. Capacity, measured in available cargo/mail tonne kilometers, rose by 12.7 percent, while cargo and mail revenue tonne kilometers (RTKs) flown were up by 20.9 percent.
For the year to the end of July, tonnage rose by 10.1 percent, while capacity was up by 11.1 percent and RTKs increased by 13.4 percent.
“After a strong end to the second quarter, demand remained robust in July and the year-on-year tonnage increase was above expectations,” said Mark Sutch, Cathay Pacific general manager of cargo sales and marketing.
He said the group’s performance was underpinned by a strong Hong Kong market and a significant surge in shipments from China, and benefited from good demand from the Americas, although traffic to Europe has slackened.
“We operated fewer freighters to Europe than originally planned though we are now making better use of the belly space in our Boeing 777-300ER passenger aircraft,” he said.
Photo: InSapphoWeTrust
