October 2019 cargo traffic: Peak is present, but it’s no 2018

Many of the world’s major carriers have now reported their results for October 2019 cargo tr a ffic , and, as shown in the chart at right, annual comparisons are not spectacular. Peak season has been strong in recent years, and cargo traffic rose 3.1% year-over-year in October 2018. Air cargo demand in October 2019, although lackluster compared to last year, remains higher m onth-to-month, indicating the presence of a peak season. For most carriers reporting October statistics, the month was the busiest so far, year-to-date. Turning to the results on a carrier-by-carrier basis: Asia-Pacific Cathay Pacific Group reported October traffic down 5.9 % year-over-year to 1.0 billion FTKs , despite month-to-month gains . Year-to-date, Cathay’s traffic is 6.9 % lower compared to the first ten months of 2018, at 9 .3 billion FTKs. Commenting on the cargo performance, Ronald Lam, Chief Customer and Commercial Officer said, “ Cargo volume continued to improve as the market entered into its peak season of the year, with demand picking up after the National Day holidays in October. This began with an uptick in raw materials and machinery parts into mainland China, followed by encouraging exports from mainland China and Hong Kong, especially into trans-Pacific and European markets. Month-on-month tonnage growth was recorded across all sales territories. We anticipate this positive momentum continuing through mid-December. However, overall cargo yield remained significantly below that of the same time last year.” Hong International Airport (HKG), reported its October handle down 5 . 5 % y-o-y to 428 ,000 tonnes . The airport’s handle for the first ten months of 201 9 was down 6 .0% to 3.9 million tonnes . Singapore Airlines reported October c argo traffic down 10.3 % y-o-y to 5 70 million FTKs, while cargo tonnage declined by 6 . 8 % to just over 10 8 ,000 tonnes . Year-to-date, cargo traffic is down 7.0 % to 5. 8 billion FTKs. Air China Cargo’s traffic for October was 6 . 3 % lower than in Octo ber 2019 at 426 million FTKs. Overall tonnage decreased 2.5% to about 127,000 tonnes . Month-to-month from September, traffic rose 8.0%. For the ten months of 2019, traffic is down 3. 8 %, and tonnage is 2 . 0 % lower than during the same period in 2018. China Southern ’s October cargo traffic dropped 4 . 7 % to 6 47 million FTK s . Year-to-date through October , traffic is flat compared to 2018, at 6.2 .9 billion FTKs. EVA Air’s cargo traffic, measured in freight tonne kilometers (FTKs), slid 2.0% year-over-year for the month of October to 310million FTKs – the carrier’s second busiest month of the year since August. Year-to-date through October, EVA’s cargo traffic is down 7.4% year-over-year, and tonnage is down 8.0%. China Airlines reported October cargo traffic down 7 . 4 % to 4 89 million FTKs – the carrier’s busiest month year-to-date . For the first ten months of the year, t raffic is 9 . 9 % lower at 4.4 billion FTKs. Shanghai Pudong International Airport Cargo Terminal Co Ltd ( Pactl ) , reported October cargo throughput of 162,000 tonnes , down 1.6% from Oct o ber 2018. Despite the y-o-y drop, October throughput was up more than 10,000 tonnes from its second-busiest month, September. Year-to-date through Octobe r , PACTl’s throughput is down 8.8% to 1.4 million tonnes . Europe & Middle East Lufthansa Group reported a decline of 3.0% y-o-y in its October traffic to 927 million FTKs. The main inhibitor to growth can be traced to the carrier’s Asia-Pacific traffic, which declined 6.7% y-o-y, offsetting single digit growth in Europe and Middle East/Africa. Over the first ten months of 2019, Lufthansa saw a 2.0% decline in its overall traffic to 8.8 billion FTKs. Air France-KLM’s October cargo traffic declined by 7.2% y-o-y to 735 million freight tonne kilometers (FTKs). Air France saw a decline in traffic of 9.0% y-o-y to 324 million FTKs, while KLM’s traffic for the month declined 5.7% y-o-y growth to 410 million FTKs. For the first ten months of the year, the group’s total cargo activity was down 1.9% y-o-y to 6.9 billion FTKs. Year-to-date, Air France’s demand was up 0.1% y-o-y to 3.1 billion FTKs, while KLM saw a decline of 3.4% to 3.8 billion FTKs. International Airlines Group reported that group traffic dropped 5.8% y-o-y in October to 487 million FTKs. While both Aer Lingus and Iberia account for a relatively small share of IAG’s overall cargo traffic, traffic at Aer Lingus declined 26.3% and flatlined at Iberia for October. Meanwhile, traffic declined by 6.9% y-o-y at British Airways for the month, which accounts for most of the Group’s traffic. From January to October, IAG’s cargo traffic declined 1.5% y-o-y to 4.6 billion FTKs, compared to the same period the year prior. Turkish Cargo reported a 7.9% y-o-y increase in cargo volumes carried during October, to just over 132,000 tonnes. For the first 10 months of 2019, cargo volumes are up 9.3% y-o-y to more than 1.1 million tonnes. Frankfurt Airport (FRA) reported its October handle down 7.3% y-o-y to 179,000 tonnes. For the first ten months of 2019, FRA’s handle was down 3.4% to 1.77 million tonnes. Americas Delta Cargo reported October cargo traffic down 8.1 % y-o-y for the month, to about 257 million FTKs. Year-to-date, Delta’s cargo traffic is down by 8.9 %. Join us in Frankfurt Feb. 3-5 for Cargo Facts EMEA. For more information, or to register, visit www.cargofactsemea.com . Early registration ends Dec. 13.

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