Global demand for air cargo tailing off: IATA
Global demand for air cargo “softened” in November 2022, the most recent month of data, as carriers continued facing economic headwinds and the pandemic-related cargo boom lost steam. As measured in cargo tonne-kilometres (CTKs), global air freight demand fell 13.7% last November compared with November 2021, according to a 9 January report from the IATA. “Air cargo performance softened in November, the traditional peak season,” says Willie Walsh, IATA’s director general. “Resilience in the face of economic uncertainties is demonstrated with demand being relatively stable on a month-to-month basis. But market signals are mixed.” Latin America was the only region to show a positive change in demand for air cargo during the month, with its CTKs up 2.2% in one year.North America’s CTKs fell 6.6% year-on-year, while the Asia-Pacific region posted the largest loss, down 18.6% from one year prior, IATA says. “Airlines in the [Asia-Pacific] region continue to be impacted by lower levels of trade and manufacturing activity and disruptions in supply chains due to China’s rising Covid cases,” IATA says. Europe, feeling the affects of Russia’s war with Ukraine, also saw demand for air cargo decrease signficiantly, with CTKs down 16.5% year-on-year in November. Though oil prices stabilised and the pace of inflation slowed in November – indicators “with upside potential”, Walsh says – shrinking export orders and China’s surge in Covid-19 cases “are cause for careful monitoring”, he adds. New export orders – a top indicator of cargo demand – stayed stable in October thanks to growing export demand in Germany, the USA and South Korea, while such orders decreased in the rest of the world, IATA says. Demand for air cargo capacity soared during the Covid-19 pandemic and stayed strong for many months thanks to the rise of e-commerce, driving a boom in converting ageing passenger aircraft into freighters. “We got hit with Covid, of course, and then suddenly you have a whole bunch of aircraft that got parked,” Raphael Haddad, president of specialist commercial aircraft trading firm Jetcraft Commercial, said during a 17 November interview.<br/>
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Global demand for air cargo tailing off: IATA
Global demand for air cargo “softened” in November 2022, the most recent month of data, as carriers continued facing economic headwinds and the pandemic-related cargo boom lost steam. As measured in cargo tonne-kilometres (CTKs), global air freight demand fell 13.7% last November compared with November 2021, according to a 9 January report from the IATA. “Air cargo performance softened in November, the traditional peak season,” says Willie Walsh, IATA’s director general. “Resilience in the face of economic uncertainties is demonstrated with demand being relatively stable on a month-to-month basis. But market signals are mixed.” Latin America was the only region to show a positive change in demand for air cargo during the month, with its CTKs up 2.2% in one year.North America’s CTKs fell 6.6% year-on-year, while the Asia-Pacific region posted the largest loss, down 18.6% from one year prior, IATA says. “Airlines in the [Asia-Pacific] region continue to be impacted by lower levels of trade and manufacturing activity and disruptions in supply chains due to China’s rising Covid cases,” IATA says. Europe, feeling the affects of Russia’s war with Ukraine, also saw demand for air cargo decrease signficiantly, with CTKs down 16.5% year-on-year in November. Though oil prices stabilised and the pace of inflation slowed in November – indicators “with upside potential”, Walsh says – shrinking export orders and China’s surge in Covid-19 cases “are cause for careful monitoring”, he adds. New export orders – a top indicator of cargo demand – stayed stable in October thanks to growing export demand in Germany, the USA and South Korea, while such orders decreased in the rest of the world, IATA says. Demand for air cargo capacity soared during the Covid-19 pandemic and stayed strong for many months thanks to the rise of e-commerce, driving a boom in converting ageing passenger aircraft into freighters. “We got hit with Covid, of course, and then suddenly you have a whole bunch of aircraft that got parked,” Raphael Haddad, president of specialist commercial aircraft trading firm Jetcraft Commercial, said during a 17 November interview.<br/>
