September cargo – what we know so far

It will be another week or so before enough data are available to give us a real idea of cargo traffic in September, but the reports so far published do not give grounds for much optimism. We will publish a detailed analysis of September data next week, but here are some early results, by region.

Asia-Pacific: Only three of the big carriers and airports have published their September cargo data, and the year-over-year trend is positive, though not particularly strong. Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines reported its September traffic up 1.3% y-o-y, and Pactl, the biggest handler at Shanghai Pudong International reported the same 1.3% increase in cargo volume. Further south, Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines saw cargo traffic up 10.2%.

Europe: The EU’s big three carriers – Air France-KLM, Lufthansa, and IAG – continued their trend of declining cargo traffic. AF-KLM reported September cargo traffic down 10.8% y-o-y (after adjusting for the impact of last year’s strike), while Lufthansa and IAG reported declines of  5.7% and 6.0% respectively. Frankfurt Airport (FRA) saw its September handle fall 4.7%.

Americas: Mixed results in the Americas, as LATAM and Delta Air Lines both reported continuing double-digit year-over-year declines in cargo traffic (12.5% and 12.4%, respectively, while United Airlines and American Airlines reported modest gains (1.9% and 3.1%, respectively.

Get more air cargo insights at the 2015 Cargo Facts Symposium, Oct. 26-28 in Miami. Click here for details.