More than 1.4B lbs of material flown to and from Hawaii in 2021

Surrounded by the expanse of the Pacific Ocean, the Hawaiian Islands rely heavily on air transportation to send and receive necessities for daily life on the islands. The Hawaiian Islands are home to 1.4 million residents, and it is reported that 10.4 million tourists visited the islands in 2019, contributing $17.75 billion dollars to the local economy. Hawaii's location in the middle of the Pacific Ocean makes it an opportune technical stopover location for Express freighters headed to Asia and Oceania. As you will see in the figures below, the domestic freight market is dominated by UPS and FedEx, with many of their flights stopping in Hawaii prior to continuing to final destinations in Asia. Being a year-round sun destination Hawaii also has the benefit of an abundance of belly capacity on passenger aircraft. Hawaiian fleet Cargo carriers based in Hawaii generally service intra-island flights, while flights to the Continental U.S. and Asia are generally serviced by aircraft based outside of Hawaii. There are three aircraft types that predominantly service intra-land needs: the B737-200F/-300F, Shorts 360, and the Cessna 208 Caravan. This may change in the near future, as Amazon's Hawaiian network continues to expand. The company has introduced intra-island flights; at this point, the volumes moved between islands are not significant but this will likely change with future developments. In addition, of the 737s we have identified to be in-service with Hawaiian operators, the average age is just shy of thirty-three years old. We wonder if there may be an opportunity for replacement in the coming years. Another operating efficiency that we have noticed is that it appears that North Air Cargo (NAC) moves certain aircraft between their Aloha Air Cargo fleet and their fleet in Alaska during the busy summer months in Alaska. Cargo flights between Hawaii and other destinations are generally operated by 767s, 777s, 747s or MD11s. For the Amazon network, the 767-300F is the aircraft of choice; Aloha Air Cargo operates a 767-300F between Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL) and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX); FedEx operates a mix of MD11s and 777s; and UPS operates a mix of 767s and 747s. Freight and mail volumes According to 2021 BTS Form 41 data, 1.1 billion lbs of freight and 90 million lbs of mail were moved between the Hawaiian Islands and the mainland. For domestic freight, 253 million lbs (22%) was carried by UPS, 197 million (17%) by FedEx, and 187 million (16%) by Atlas Airlines. An additional seventeen carriers moved 518 million lbs. For mail, United Airlines carried 18 million lbs (20%), Aloha Air Cargo 17 million lbs (19%), and Transair carried nearly 16 million lbs (17%). An additional nine carriers moved a combined 39 million lbs. At the time of writing, BTS Form 41 data for international mail and freight has only been released for January 2021 through September 2021. To determine Hawaiian International freight and mail, we looked at the material that originated in Hawaii or had a final destination of Hawaii. The majority of international operations go through HNL, so this helped to somewhat simplify the process. The numbers for international freight and mail are just a small percentage of the domestic material that we saw earlier at 164 million lbs for freight and only 835 thousand lbs for mail. FedEx carried 67 million lbs (41%), Atlas Air 41 million lbs (25%), and UPS 40 million lbs (25%). An additional 7 carriers carried a combined 15.4 million lbs. It should be mentioned that it is difficult to discern what international material originated or is destine for the Hawaiian islands and which material is actually through traffic. Amazon's Hawaiian growth Since launching flights to HNL in 2018, Amazon has added Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport at Keahole (KOA) and Kahului Airport (OGG) in 2020, as well as Lihue Airport in late 2021. Amazon also announced in June 2021 that it had purchased land in Honolulu and plans to open Hawaii's first fulfillment center; no estimated opening dates were given. We wonder where Amazon will go next. Will they follow other companies and use Hawaii as a takeoff point for other destinations? Cargo Facts Consulting has analyzed the Flightradar24 data, and BTS Form 41 data to collect data for the interactive display below. It contains five pages with a panel in each: Route Map Hawaiian Domestic Freight by Carrier (Top 10 Carriers) Hawaiian International Freight by Carrier Hawaiian Domestic Mail by Carrier (Top 10 Carriers) Hawaiian International Mail by Carrier (Top 3 Carriers) *Route Map displays all-cargo flights only. **Please note that Form 41 Data for International Freight and Mail covers January 2021 through September 2021.

More than 1.4B lbs of material flown to and from Hawaii in 2021

Consultant Insight: FedEx Express’ TNT integration impacted by omicron

IAG Cargo joins cargo.one’s booking platform

Related Posts

Routes, risk and resilience: The transformation of global freight

June brings stability, not relief

May freighter capacity extends April’s higher operating level

IAG Cargo joins cargo.one’s booking platform

Cargo Facts Free Newsletters

Cargo Facts Connect Podcast

Follow Us

Welcome Back!

Retrieve your password