Transit activity buoys Osaka volume

[caption id="attachment_95039" align="alignright" width="448"] Cargo Area at Osaka Kansai (KIX Airport) Photo/KIX[/caption] Osaka Kansai Airport (KIX) finished 2020 with its total cargo throughput down 7% year on year to 701,00 tonnes — a drop that would have been far more precipitous were the declines not offset by a 23% spike in transit cargo. Import and export cargo traffic — shipments with an origin or destination in Japan — was significantly lower in 2020, with export volumes for the full year down 17%, and imports down 15%, compared to 2019. “This transit activity is mainly thanks to the FedEx warehouse that we have here in KIX,” Francois Southarewsky, chief cargo officer at Aero Kansai Airports, told Air Cargo World . The express company has increased its utilization of KIX since shipments of personal protective equipment of Asia began to spike in Q2 of last year, Kawal Preet, president of Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa (AMEA) at FedEx Express, told Air Cargo World at the time. The continuation of robust transit activity and rebounding international trade with Japan pushed annual comparisons into positive territory for the first month of 2021. In January, international throughput out of KIX rose 9%, to 60,000 tonnes, indicating signs of trade recovery after prolonged pandemic-related headwinds. “We see a recovery with the restart of business in Japan, and with the country exporting more and more,” said Southarewsky. For Osaka, exports started recovering in July, and imports restarted in October, according to the airport. While imports were still 1% lower in January 2021 compared to 2020, “We have seen a significant recovery in export activity compared to last year,” said Southarewsky, referring to the 25% YoY growth in January. The uptick in export volume isn’t unique to KIX, Japan’s no. 3 airport in terms of cargo throughput after Haneda (HND) and Narita (NRT). Air export volumes from Japan were up 20% YoY in December 2020, and up 35% YoY in January, according to the Japan Forwarders Association. “This is the market that has seen the greatest uptick in volumes during the past three months,” according to Frederic Horst, managing director of Air Cargo World affiliate, Cargo Facts Consulting . Semiconductors, industrial equipment and parts are the two largest export segments, according to CFC. With trade on the rise, bellyhold capacity is still lagging as COVID-related travel restrictions have yet to ease. Passengers from most countries, including Canada, the United States and the European Union, are still subject to an entry ban, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization. ANA Group, the largest Japan-based airline group, said it operated just 18.2% of its international passenger flights in January 2021, according to a traffic release. International cargo tonnage, meanwhile, was up 27% YoY in January to 67,500 tonnes, highlighting the role of the carrier’s freighter fleet, and passenger-only cargo flights. The group’s smaller domestic cargo business was down traffic was down by 31%, at 16,000 tonnes. While most of ANA’s cargo-only flights have connected Tokyo to large airfreight gateways, including London (LHR), Paris (CDG) and Frankfurt (FRA), increased industrial demand has pushed ANA to launch additional cargo-only flights to smaller markets. On March 25 and March 27, the carrier will operate two roundtrip cargo-only flights between HND and Munich (MUC) utilizing 787 aircraft, according to a release from ANA. “By returning to Munich, we are reopening trade lanes between Japan and southern Germany for automotive parts, machinery, pharmaceuticals, and other general cargo as demand return,” according to the statement. Passenger services between HND and MUC ceased in March 2020, and there is no timeline for service. Japan Airlines reported international cargo traffic up 1%, to 32,000 tonnes in January, despite operating a much smaller international passenger network, and without its own freighters. International passenger traffic measured in revenue passenger kilometers was down 93.3% YoY. [caption id="attachment_95040" align="alignleft" width="521"] Aerial view of Osaka Kansai Airport (KIX). Photo/KIX[/caption] At KIX, main-deck freighters and cargo-only passenger flights continue to handle the bulk of the airport’s cargo throughput. For the period beginning in March 2020, when passenger flights were first disrupted by COVID-19 restrictions, through January 2021, cargo movements rose 72% YoY, compared to the same period the previous year. “Clearly, it reflects the cancellation of almost all passenger flights, and the significant lack of capacity,” said Southarewsky. The airport has seen many freighter operators take advantage of the landing-fee reductions intended to encourage new flights or additional frequencies, and that count toward all flights not previously scheduled. “It’s applied in the same way for full freighters and carriers using passenger aircraft as a freighter,” said Southarewsky. KIX still regularly hosts widebody passenger freighters, as well as narrowbody aircraft from neighboring countries such as China. “It’s continuing, and we think that it will continue until the end of all the passenger restrictions,” said Southarewsky.

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