IATA: August cargo load factors soar for Asia-Pacific airlines

With air cargo demand holding steady as capacity fell in August, industrywide cargo load factors reached their highest ever level for August at 54.2% and were especially high for Asia-Pacific carriers, rising to 69.8%. [caption id="attachment_96776" align="alignright" width="450"] Photo/Cathay Pacific[/caption] Industrywide cargo traffic was up 7.7% in cargo tonne kilometers (CTKs) from August 2019, fairly steady if slightly lower than the 8.8% growth in August, according to the latest monthly analysis from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). While demand was mostly stable, 12.2% of available capacity was lost from the market in August compared to August 2019 due to disruptions in the Asia-Pacific region — most notably, pandemic closures of Nanjing Airport (NKG) and crew quarantines and terminal closures in Shanghai (PVG) and Beijing (PEK), IATA noted. Capacity also declined slightly in Latin America, falling 4.6% from July while rising in Europe, the Middle East and North America. IATA’s outlook for airfreight is still positive despite the difficulties in August, but the association noted that some demand drivers are slowing. On a positive note for near-term demand, the U.S. inventory-to-sales ratio remains low, which is historically supportive of rising airfreight volumes. Manufacturing production is also rising in a strong sign for global goods demand. However, manufacturing has slowed from previous months, IATA noted, while one of the significant challenges to improvement being the “severe global supply chain congestion” across all modes, impacting manufacturing and supply chains globally. “Looking forward, it is likely that cargo demand will remain strong amidst the upcoming large e-commerce events (Single’s Day, Black Friday, Christmas…) and launch of new tech products,” according to the report. “However, if the available capacity falls further, there might be some setbacks on the way for volumes actually carried.” North America North America-based carriers continued to report strong traffic improvements in August, up 19.3% for the total market and 18.0% for international traffic. Manufacturing metrics were strong in the U.S., but international cargo capacity restrictions are hampering further growth, as is congestion at cargo hubs such as Los Angeles (LAX) and Chicago (ORD), IATA reported. Africa, Middle East, Europe Africa-based carriers led in total and international cargo traffic for August, up 32.4% and 33.9%, respectively, from August 2019. The most significant growth was in the Africa-Asia trade lane, IATA said. Carriers in the Middle East also reported healthy traffic growth in August, up 15.5% for total traffic and 15.4% for international traffic from 2019, while European carriers had more modest improvements of 6.3% for total traffic and 6.0% for international traffic. Asia-Pacific Carriers in the Asia-Pacific region were negatively impacted by COVID-19 pandemic restrictions in August, IATA reported. Total traffic for the month was down 2.1% from 2019, while international traffic was up by a modest 3.0%. Slowdowns in the Chinese economy are also less supportive for the near-term traffic, according to IATA, while disruptions at major airports are likely to hamper cargo capacity. Latin America Latin American airlines extended their difficulties in August, as the only regional group to report total and international traffic declines from August 2019. Total traffic was down 13.2% in August and international traffic was down 14.0%. International capacity in the region has been under pressure since early in the pandemic and was down 27.1% from August 2019, the largest drop in capacity of any region despite the difficulties in the Asia-Pacific in August.

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