Regional Pulse: Caribbean airfreight capacity grows but directional imbalances abound

The reopening of borders in several Caribbean countries is supporting the regional return of passenger capacity with associated cargo bellyspace, such as the July resumption of seven routes to and from Port of Spain in Trinidad with Caribbean Airlines. However, while carriers and freight forwarders report rising demand for airfreight into the region, Caribbean exports remain well below pre-pandemic levels. [caption id="attachment_69134" align="alignright" width="450"] A Caribbean Airlines 737-800 at Miami Airport. Venkat Mangudi [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)][/caption]Trinidad and Tobago borders reopened July 17, and Caribbean Airlines resumed seven routes to and from Port of Spain (POS) with at least three more routes resuming in August, according to Marklan Moseley, general manager for cargo and new business development at Caribbean Airlines. The initial routes are for passenger connectivity, but Caribbean Airlines Cargo customers are interested in the return connectivity to New York (JFK), Toronto (YYZ), Dominica (DOM), St. Vincent (SVD), Suriname (PBM) and St. Lucia (UVF). The capacity is needed as demand increases, but the region is facing directional imbalances as well. “Air capacity has been very tough into the Caribbean, Central America and South America due to those markets being so reliant on passenger service,” Bob Imbriani, vice president for international services at logistics company Team Worldwide, told Air Cargo World . “We are seeing an improvement in capacity, as well as some freighter charters. We do see a steady improvement for goods into the area, but not much coming back yet.” Caribbean and Latin American markets that are seeing export demand include Jamaica, Trinidad and Guyana, according to Caribbean Airlines’ Moseley, although export demand is not back to pre-pandemic levels. “We have a lot of exports out of Trinidad and Jamaica, in terms of produce,” Moseley told Air Cargo World. “And Guyana is now developing as an oil and gas country, so we see an increase in terms of the oil and gas shipments in and out of Guyana.” Those exports have slowed from pre-pandemic levels, said Moseley, “but we anticipate that over time this is going to improve as well, and we will be expanding further.” Miami International Airport (MIA) serves as a major hub for cargo to and from the Caribbean, and Caribbean Airlines has maintained freighter service from MIA while its Port of Spain hub was impacted by border closures. The 767F operated with 14 weekly routes between MIA and destinations including Guyana, Barbados, Montego Bay, Trinidad and Kingston. The carrier is planning further expansion of its freighter service in the region over the next year, said Moseley, who did not disclose the markets for expansion. Demand through MIA is also increasing, according to Team Worldwide’s Imbriani. The logistics company opened a bonded warehouse in Miami in mid-2019, which Imbriani told Air Cargo World is “near capacity.” “This is an outgrowth of the fact that European suppliers and forwarders are having a difficult time servicing the Caribbean and Central America,” Imbriani said. “They go through MIA to take advantage of ocean and air capacity, so we’re near capacity in our bonded section and considering expanding our warehouse space, both bonded and unbonded, to accommodate the increase in U.S. origin and import freight.” Further complicating cargo flows at MIA is the congestion facing nearly every major U.S. airport . While most of the U.S. airport congestion affects cargo pick-up after arrival at the destination airport, Imbriani noted that cargo drop-off has become more difficult at MIA. “You can wait three to four hours to drop off cargo, not just to pick up and some facilities will only accept cargo for a very short time before the flight because they’re at capacity, so they’re shortening the drop-off time before aircraft departure,” Imbriani said. That has been exacerbated by the new TSA screening rules for cargo , he added. “Almost every major airport has this problem,” Imbriani said. The increased cargo screening requirements are having a particularly large impact on oversized cargo and cargo that is difficult to screen, he said, “to the point where some carriers turn [those shipments] away.”

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