Weak Lunar New Year underscores Asia-Pacific volume slide

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Delhi_Airport_TerminalsAir cargo’s difficult start to 2016 extended into February as worldwide volumes by airlines dropped by 3.8% year-over-year, the largest decline in three years, according to the latest analysis by WorldACD.

The fall was mainly due to the lackluster performance on the Asia-Pacific and North America routes, where their year-over-year volume decrease for January-February together stood at more than 7%.

“Negative year-over-year patterns around Chinese New Year (CNY) provided further confirmation of the air cargo slide in Asia Pacific,” said the report.

It further noted that the usual strong dip after CNY was deeper this year than last year, and also lasted longer in terms of “low-business days.”

“From China and Hong Kong, the 2015 post-CNY-dip showed only one day with less than 10% of the pre-CNY volumes; this year there were four such days,” added the report.

The weak year-over-year figures for Asia-Pacific and North America should also be viewed against the backdrop of last year’s windfall due to the port strike in the United States, said WorldACD.

Additionally, the negative impact of CNY on the February totals was bigger this year as it took place much earlier in the month than last year.

On the other hand, Africa, Europe, and Middle East & South Asia each showed around 5% growth for January and February 2016.

Worldwide yields, measured in U.S dollars, remained stable between January and February, with Africa and Europe leading in this category.

In terms of products, perishables reinforced its superior performance over general cargo, not just in volume but also in yield—perishables dropped by a much lower percentage than general cargo yields.

ABC Airlines adds Friday flight to Singapore

Meanwhile, AirBridgeCargo Airlines (ABC Airlines) has added a third weekly Boeing 747 freighter operation to its Singapore network, introducing the new flight last April 1.

The new Friday frequency will offer onward connections to Hong Kong and to points across ABC Airline’s global route network, said the company.

The airline launched twice-weekly services to and from Singapore in September 2015 with flights every Thursday and Sunday.

Robert van de Weg, ABC’s senior vice president of sales & marketing, said the company has been experiencing strong demand on routes to and from Singapore of more than 1,200 tonnes of cargo monthly.

“We particularly see rising demand for ABC’s dedicated cargo services to Singapore from Europe and the USA,” he added.

Lim Ching Kiat, Changi Airport Group’s senior vice-president for market development, said the airline’s third weekly service comes just after six months of the launch of its inaugural freighter service at Changi Airport last year.

“This growth in capacity will provide more cargo options between Singapore and Russia, as well as beyond to Europe and the United States,” he added.

Singapore, via ABC’s Moscow hub, is directly connected to major European cargo gateways including Frankfurt, Paris, Amsterdam, and Milan as well as to the prime U.S. freight markets served by ABC’s international route network. This enables the airline to attract freight flows from all points in Europe and the U.S.

Photo: seaview99