IATA: Latin American airlines report international CTK improvements for May

May global air cargo traffic increased 9.4% compared to pre-pandemic levels in May 2019 due to slowly improving supply chain conditions and economic activity, according to today’s May analysis from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). [caption id="attachment_86361" align="alignright" width="450"] (Photo/LATAM Cargo)[/caption] Latin American carriers reported a significant improvement in cargo traffic with a 14% decline in May from May 2019, contrasted with April’s reported 32.3% decrease. Despite the improvement, North American airlines exhibited the strongest performance with a contribution of 4.6 percentage points to May’s overall traffic increase. Meanwhile seasonally adjusted (SA) month-over-month traffic remained virtually flat, compared to April 2021. Air cargo is still benefitting from congested ocean container supply chains as well as rising demand from businesses as the economy begins to recover, according to IATA. Economies in Europe and North America are doing especially well, while economies in China and South Korea are showing signs of stabilization, as shown by new export orders, according to IATA. While May 2021 global capacity, measured in available cargo tonne kilometers (ACTKs), was down 9.7% compared to the same month in 2019, SA volumes continued to rise with a 0.8% month-over-month increase in May, according to the report. Although passenger aircraft and dedicated freighters contributed to improvements, belly capacity and international passenger traffic did not improve in May and ACTKs for international freighters were down 11.1% compared to May 2019. As a result, industry-wide cargo load factors continue to trend above pre-pandemic levels, and reached 57.2% in May 2021, up 10.0 percentage points compared to the same month in 2019. Meanwhile, the international load factor was at 65% in May 2021, a record-high for any month of May, according to the report. Cargo rates, including surcharges, also followed an upward trend and were up by more than 90% in May 2021 compared to the same month in 2019, while air cargo revenues increased by more than 70% during the same period, according to the report. North America Looking at market performance regionally, airlines based in North America were the main contributor for May’s volume growth and posted a stable 25.5% rise in international cargo tonne kilometers (CTKs) for May 2021. The growth is primarily attributed to manufacturing output, according to the report. Africa, Middle East, Europe Looking toward other regions, African airlines reported a 24.5% growth in international CTKs, which is slightly less than April 2021 which reported a 34% growth in international CTKs. The report attributed the decline to the deceleration in trade flows between Africa and Asia. Meanwhile, there was a moderate slowdown in air cargo growth on various trade lanes in May, including Europe-Asia, Middle East-Asia, as well as within Europe according to the report. Consequently, airlines in the Middle East posted a 14.1% growth in international CTKs, while Europe reported a 5.7% growth in international CTKs. Asia Air cargo growth within Asia also experienced a slowdown as purchasing managers indices (PMIs) showed some decline in certain manufacturing-intense countries like China and Korea. Despite the slowdown, Asian airlines reported a 5.3% increase in international CTKs, according to IATA. Latin America Latin American carriers are still seeing a lower performance compared to other regions, despite the improvement in international traffic. SA volumes in the region also rose strongly, despite LatAm carriers losing market shares to North American and European airlines, according to the report. It is not clear whether May’s rebound will continue in the months to come.

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