IATA: Air cargo market has improved in May, but

Release time: 07-0210:48 Shanghai Top World International Logistics Co., Ltd. official account

The International Air Transport Association revealed in its latest air cargo analysis that the air transport market improved in May, but 'a full recovery will take time.'

Demand for the entire industry in terms of cargo ton-kilometers has experienced a double-digit decline for the third consecutive month, which is an improvement from the 25.6% decline in April and a 20.3% decline from the same period last year.

According to the International Air Transport Association: 'Adjusted by seasonal factors, the cargo volume in May increased from April, indicating that the trough of cargo volume may have passed.'

However, as passenger aircraft grounded in response to the Coronavirus pandemic lost abdominal operations, capacity was still unable to meet demand.

In terms of available tons of kilometers (ACTKs), the industry's capacity in May declined by 34.7% year-on-year―a slowdown compared to the 41.6% reported in April.

This in turn led to a 10.4 percentage point increase in cargo load factor in May, slightly lower than the 12.8 percentage point in April.

Freight volume also seems to have peaked around mid-May. As passenger traffic begins to pick up, the tension in freight capacity is expected to ease in the near future.

The International Air Transport Association attributed the recent change in air cargo trends to the supply chain disruption caused by Covid-19 restrictions, and then global industrial production stabilized while China's industrial production increased.

The Chairman and CEO of the International Air Transport Association commented: Compared with 2019, air cargo demand has dropped by more than 20%, and the capacity has dropped by 34.7% due to the grounding of most passenger fleets.

The gap between demand and capacity shows that finding space on an aircraft that is still flying is a challenge. In this regard, the prospects for air cargo are still stronger than the passenger business, but the future is very uncertain.

'As some economies thaw, economic activity is picking up from April's lows, but it is still difficult to predict the duration and depth of the recession.' From the perspective of regional performance, African airlines have shown 'elastic performance', 5 Monthly traffic dropped by 7.4% year-on-year.

Airlines in North America performed best, with a year-on-year decline of 3.6% in May. The International Air Transport Association said: 'The reason for the strong performance is because of the shorter and less stringent blockade in some regions, the large cargo aircraft fleet of some regional airlines, and the strong U.S.-China trade volume.'

At the same time, demand from Latin American airlines fell by 28.3% year-on-year. The International Air Transport Association emphasized: 'This is a significant improvement compared to the 43.7% drop in April.'

It added: 'Due to strict blockade measures, the Covid-19 crisis is particularly challenging for Latin American airlines.'

Airlines in the Middle East reported that traffic in May fell by 25.2% year-on-year, an improvement from the 36.3% drop in April. The International Air Transport Association added: “Although some airlines in the region maintain some cargo capacity, all major routes have very low traffic volumes.”

Compared with the same period last year, demand from Asia-Pacific airlines fell by 24.2% in May. The International Air Transport Association explained: 'The delivery of personal protective equipment (PPE) helps support airlines in the region.'

It added: 'Seasonally adjusted freight volume also rebounded slightly in May and has now reached 75% of the pre-crisis level of the new coronary pneumonia.'

Finally, the performance of European airlines is the worst in all regions, and the report said that the traffic in May decreased by 29.5% year-on-year. According to the International Air Transport Association, this is due to 'manufacturing output is limited and production will be suspended until mid-May'.