November volumes break record set during past month, says WorldACD

The new year is finally here, but as 2017’s stats continue to roll in, it seems the surge in airfreight demand during the holiday season was the gift that kept on giving for the air cargo sector. Most recently, WorldACD reported that, during November 2017, worldwide airfreight volumes rose 1.3 percent, month-to-month, to break the overall monthly volume record set during October.

Year-over-year, volumes also rose 7.8 percent during November, or 8.9 percent in direct tonne kilometers (DTKs), while revenues grew even faster than they did during October, at 26 percent y-o-y.

The Asia-Pacific market remained the prime growth market during November for large overall volumes and robust growth, WorldACD said, as volumes on the Asia-Pacific-to-North America route rose 11.5 percent, y-o-y. Europe to Middle East and South Asia (MESA) volumes rose 11.3 percent, y-o-y, while MESA to Europe rose 21.1 percent. In particular, African, North American, Asia-Pacific and European airlines experienced the most growth in volumes transported, at 14.5 percent, 11.4 percent, 9.4 percent and 8.7 percent, respectively.

Yields during November saw the strongest y-o-y growth since the 2010 recovery after the global financial crisis, at 17.3 percent – the third month in a row that yields have seen double-digit growth. However, jet fuel prices also increased by 35 percent, somewhat tempering the yield growth.