Financial pressure will squeeze airfreight capacity

More airlines are looking to merge or form strategic alliance partnerships in order to survive the ongoing economic crisis, with rising fuel costs adding further strain. “Cargo freighter operators are also under immense financial pressure,” divisional director air product: Africa & Middle East region at UTi Worldwide, Dagmar Mertens, told FTW, “and are having to park capacity due to decreases in airfreight volumes, especially on the Asia to Europe route.” “As with ocean freight, capacity exceeds demand,” she said. “Even in the competitive airfreight price market, we still find cost-conscious shippers converting to ocean freight.” Julia Khanyago, operations manager: forwarding and exports for UTi, told FTW that there was currently a huge imbalance between inbound and outbound cargo in Africa, with the continent currently importing seven times more goods than it exports. “Exports in apparel, leather goods and hides, in particular, have decreased considerably.” She said perishable goods were still the primary export from Africa to the rest of the world.