A record ‘dynamic loadfactor’ and high air freight rates on the world’s premier trade lanes in September showed the global air cargo market edging towards a sustainable recovery at the start of the traditional peak season, according to a report by industry analysts CLIVE Data Services and TAC Index.
Chargeable weight in September rose nine percentage points month-on-month, further narrowing the year-on-year gap to -15%, the fifth consecutive month of positive indicators since April’s 37% decline in volumes versus the same month of 2019.
According to the analysts, the ‘dynamic loadfactor’ - based on both the volume and weight perspectives of cargo flown and capacity available – averaged 70% in September, a two percentage point increase versus August and eight percentage points higher year-over-year. Notably, the 71% figure for the week of Sep 28-Oct 4 was the highest ever recorded by CLIVE.
The study points out that global air cargo capacity in September was, on average, 25% less than in the same month of last year.
Constrained capacity in the market at a time of rising demand also led to significant increases in rates, according to TAC Index – a trend in the seafreight industry which has also seen rates improving amid constrained capacity.
“A fifth consecutive month of gradual air cargo market improvements may not be sensational news but, in this case, sometimes boring is good,” said Niall van de Wouw, managing director of CLIVE Data Services.
But while this may be encouraging news for airlines, it means shippers and forwarders are being faced with higher air freight costs.
The positive air cargo figures have however done little to staunch the bleeding in an embattled industry which relies on passenger numbers for its revenues.
As reported in yesterday’s Freight News, International Air Transport Association (Iata) director general Alexandre de Juniac said: “For the second half of the year we expect, on average, for airlines to burn through cash at about $300 000 per minute for a total of $77 billion. And that’s on top of the $51 billion cash burn in the second quarter.”
He said airlines were burning through cash because they could not cut costs fast enough to make up for the impact of not being able to do business.
