GLOBAL air cargo volumes continue to show a slow recovery, with an eight per cent increase in July, reports London’s Air Cargo News, citing a study from CLIVE Data Services, a unit of Brisbane’s Biarri Group.
Chargeable weight growth last month helped to further narrow the year-on-year decline in international freight volumes.
July volume was down 20 per cent down year on year, but was still up on the declines of 26 per cent in April, 31 per cent in May and 37 per cent in June.
“Our market analyses for July, especially compared to what we were reporting a few months ago, shows the gradual but consistent climb to recovery for the air cargo market is continuing. This is obviously no ‘V’ shape recovery, but even as additional capacity comes into the market with the return of more passenger services, cargo volumes are showing some reassuring resilience,” said CLIVE managing director Niall van de Wouw.
“To put the 70 per cent dynamic load factor into perspective, during the Christmas 2018 proper peak season it stood at 68 per cent, and now we are in the doldrums summer period for the air cargo industry,” he said.
“Beneath this global average are, however, regional differences. The load factors to and from Asia shows a different pattern than the ones across the Atlantic but this decline in load factor is mainly caused by increasing capacity. For example, eastbound Atlantic capacity in the week of July 27-August 2 was 10 per cent higher than in the last week of June, while the cargo volumes rose four per cent over that same timeframe.” Mr van de Wouw said.
