KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 8 — The demand for global air freight showed improvement in November compared to October, but remain depressed compared to 2019, according to global air freight markets data released by International Air Transport Association (IATA).
The trade association for the world’s airlines said capacity remained constrained from the loss of available belly cargo space as passenger aircraft remain parked.
“Global demand, measured in cargo tonne-kilometers (CTKs), was 6.6 per cent below previous-year levels in November (-7.7 per cent for international operations).
“This was on par with the 6.2 per cent year-on-year drop in October. The year-on-year decline is skewed as November 2019 had a boost in demand from the waning US-China trade war,” said IATA in a statement yesterday.
It said seasonally adjusted demand (SA CTKs) continued to improve, increasing 1.6 per cent month-on-month in November, 2020.
This was a slight improvement over the monthly growth rate of 1.1 per cent in October. Current month-on-month gains indicate that SA CTKs will return to 2019 levels around March or April 2021.
Meanwhile, IATA said global capacity, measured in available cargo tonne-kilometers (ACTKs), shrank by 20 per cent in November (‑21.3 per cent for international operations) compared to the previous year.
“That is nearly three times larger than the contraction in demand. The capacity crunch is caused by a 53 per cent decrease in in belly capacity. This has only been partially offset by a 20 per cent increase in freighter capacity,” it said.
Strong regional variations continue with North American carriers reporting year-on-year gains in demand (+5 per cent), while all other regions remained in negative territory compared to a year earlier.
Director-general and chief executive officer Alexandre de Juniac said the air cargo demand was still down 6.6 per cent compared to the previous year.
“However we are seeing continuing month-on-month improvements. Severe capacity constraints persist as large parts of the passenger fleet remain grounded. This will put pressure on the industry as it gears up to deliver vital Covid-19 vaccines,” he said.
— Bernama
