COVID-19 catalyzes freighter activity at smaller cargo airports

[caption id="attachment_88635" align="alignright" width="496"] Anchorage Airport (ANC) reported tonnage up 14.5% year over year in the second quarter of 2020, to 900,000 tonnes. Photo/ANC[/caption] As the trans-Pacific air cargo market adapts to bellyhold capacity made scarce by the COVID-19 pandemic, main-deck freighters have enjoyed a relevance renaissance. There is, however, another benefactor from the decoupling of international cargo flows and passenger routes: smaller cargo airports. With the reduction in passenger flights, more freight is moving on freighters directly from airports nearer to the cargo’s origin point, rather than undergoing consolidation at major hub airports. June data from Anchorage Airport ( ANC ) provided to Air Cargo World reveals daily freighter service to the airport from markets that did not previously have significant passenger or freighter links between China and North America. Changsha ( CSX ) and Hefei (HFE) were two such airports that saw forty and thirty-six landings at ANC in June. Wuxi ( WUX ), 128 kilometers (80 miles) west of Shanghai, also saw twenty flights to ANC in June. Prior to the crisis, ANC received only sporadic flights from these cities now made viable due to the lack of belly capacity. “Traditionally with belly capacity, a lot of stuff might have been trucked to the main hubs of Shanghai or Hong Kong, but because there isn't that belly capacity available, they're able to consolidate enough freight in some of these smaller Asian markets,” said Jim Szczesniak, airport manager of Anchorage. “A lot of our weeklies are bumping up to dailies.” The airport reported tonnage up 14.5% year over year in the second quarter of 2020, to 900,000 tonnes. Carriers with heavy exposure to the cargo charter market are operating the majority of newly added and expanded flights out of smaller cargo markets. According to FlightRadar24, Kalitta Air operated an increased number of trans-Pacific flights from origins in China including Changsha (CSX), Ningbo ( NIN ) and Hefei ( HFE ). Western Global continues to operate flights from Changsha to Chicago via ANC, according to FlightRadar24. ANC has also seen a rise in arrivals from flights originating at other Asia-Pacific airports outside of mainland China, such as Hanoi (HAN). The airport said it has also received inquiries from other Asia Pacific-based cargo operators based at smaller hubs in the region. Referring to the wave of disruption caused by the crisis, “It gives these smaller markets the opportunity to grow faster than maybe they would traditionally,” added Szczesniak. Despite the uptick in freighter activity at smaller markets in Asia, the majority of ANC’s June arrivals from Asia-based airports originated at just three airports: Hong Kong ( HKG ), Seoul ( ICN ) and Shanghai (PVG) with 875, 574 and 476 arrivals, respectively. The extent to which smaller gateways factor into future trans-Pacific air cargo flows will depend on the recovery trajectory for passenger aviation, according to Szczesniak. “It’s really dependent on when belly capacity comes back into the market,” he said. “Without the belly capacity, the freighters are kind of the only game in town.” Data from the first week of August reveals only modest increases in international bellyhold capacity. For the week ending Aug. 9, international passenger flights operated by U.S.-based passenger airlines remained 77% lower YoY, according to a recent COVID-19 operational update from Airlines for America.

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