IATA: North American airlines post 25.6% rise in international cargo traffic for April

April global air cargo traffic increased 12% compared to the same month in 2019, while seasonally adjusted (SA) month-over-month traffic rose 4% and reached the highest MoM growth rate since September 2020 due to a strong performance by North American airlines. Cargo capacity remains insufficient due to the lack of available ocean container capacity. Continued demand is causing cargo load factors to trend close to record levels, according to the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) April cargo market analysis. Specifically, the industrywide cargo load factor was 57.8% in April 2021, up 11.2 percentage points compared to the same month in 2019. [caption id="attachment_93518" align="alignright" width="433"] Photo: United Airlines[/caption] As a result, air cargo rates also followed an upward trend and were up by close to 85% compared to the same month in 2019, according to the analysis. Airfreight rates surged in April due to strong demand out of China and Hong Kong, while rates on indexed routes between HKG and airports in the U.S. nearly doubled to $8.65 per kilogram, according to the TAC Index’s April 2021 market data. V-Shaped recovery The IATA report noted the V-shaped recovery in sectors of the economy related to manufacturing, trade and industrial production, with cross-border trading increasing 4.2% in cargo tonne kilometers (CTKs) compared to March 2019. While April 2021 global capacity, measured in available cargo tonne kilometers (ACTKs), was down 9.7% below April 2019, this was the third consecutive month of improvement with SA volumes rising to their highest value since January 2020. Although international passenger traffic, and by extension belly capacity, did not improve in April 2021, ACTKs for international freighters were up 26.2% compared to the same month in 2019, a rise attributed to the increase in freighter fleet sizes and daily freighter utilization. North America Looking at market performance regionally, North American airlines accounted for 7.5 percentage points of April’s 12% growth rate, and posted a 25.6% rise in international CTKs in April 2021 compared to the same month in 2019. This growth is attributed to the demand from U.S. consumers for products manufactured in Asia. The report also noted that North American airlines have been able to grow their market share on routes between North and South America due to the large freighter fleets among North American operators. Africa, Middle East, Europe and Asia Looking to other regions, Africa-based airlines also performed well, with international CTKs rising by 30.6% compared to April 2019. April 2021 was the fourth consecutive month of growth at or above 25% compared to 2019, according to the report, noting that the growth was driven by CTKs flown on routes between Asia and Africa. Meanwhile, Middle Eastern, European and Asian airlines generally posted growth improvements in line with the international total of 13%. Latin America Latin American carriers continued to see a lower performance compared to the other regions for the month, with a reported traffic decline of 32.7% in April 2021 compared with the same month in 2019. Latin America has continued to experience many border closures due to the pandemic, further limiting available capacity. While cargo demand is high, there remains more cargo than available capacity and, as a result, Latin American carriers like LATAM Cargo have been ordering freighter conversions to help with capacity constraints, while others have been utilizing charter services , like Panama-based Cargo Three. While an air cargo liberalization agreement was signed between 10 Latin American countries in January to increase cargo connectivity, it was expected to deliver few solutions to air capacity issues. Despite the reported decline in CTKs, segment-based volumes on several routes in the region, such as Europe-Central America, have performed well in April. While there is demand on routes to and from Latin America, less cargo is being carried by Latin America-based airlines, according to the report.

IATA: North American airlines post 25.6% rise in international cargo traffic for April

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