No sign of December traffic rebound for combination carriers

• Charles Kauffman
• January 22, 2020
• Capacity & Demand, Carriers

After a month-to-month uptick in air cargo demand between October and November 2019, there was hope that peak season demand would push annual comparisons into positive territory in December 2019. While anecdotal reports suggest some regions and commodity segments saw an increase in December cargo traffic year over year, combination carriers showed little sign of […]

China Southern spins off cargo unit

• Jeff Lee
• December 26, 2019
• Aircraft, Carriers, News, Production Freighters, Strategy

China Southern Airlines has spun off its cargo unit into a separate company. The new, fully owned subsidiary was set up on Dec. 24 and has a registered capital of 1 billion yuan (US$142.9 million). The move is in line with China’s national policy of reforming its large state-owned enterprises. China Southern said during Cargo […]

Not a November to remember

• Charles Kauffman
• December 17, 2019

After phenomenal growth for airfreight demand in November 2017, followed by more tempered increases in 2018, November 2019 is not shaping up to be a month to remember. Among the carriers reporting November 2019 traffic, most operators reported modest declines. This trend was not unanimous – in each of the three regions we cover, at […]

SF Airlines takes eighth freighter in 2019

• Jeff Lee
• December 10, 2019
• Aircraft, Carriers, Conversions, Express, Freighter Aircraft Transactions, Narrowbody Conversions, News, Strategy, Widebody Conversions

SF Airlines has taken redelivery of a 757-200PCF (29944, ex-TUI Airways) from Precision Aircraft Solutions [FAT 005255]. The Shenzhen (SZX)-based carrier has now added eight freighters to its fleet this year, far surpassing any other Chinese airline. Unit 29944 began its life in 1999, flying in passenger configuration until 2019. It was then inducted for […]

September 2019 general cargo demand: generally dismal

• Charles Kauffman
• October 21, 2019
• Carriers, News

Although some Asia-based carriers saw improvements in September 2019 cargo demand compared to August, almost unanimously, cargo traffic reported by combination carriers was lower in September 2019. This was no surprise given market performance for much of 2019 as air freight demand responds to slowing global trade related to increasing protectionism and trade friction, and […]

Steep declines follow May uptick in June first look

• Charles Kauffman and Caryn Livingston
• July 22, 2019
• Capacity & Demand, Carriers, Features

As airports and carriers begin to report June 2019 cargo results, the picture of generally sluggish demand remains unchanged from the previous months. Despite the return to growth of a few Asia Pacific-based carriers during May 2019, almost unanimously, carriers and airports based in the region reported lower traffic in June 2019 compared to the […]

GAMECO angling for narrowbody freighter conversions with new maintenance lines

• Charles Kauffman
• July 16, 2019
• All Posts, Conversions, Features

Guangzhou Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Co., Ltd. (GAMECO), in which China Southern holds a 50% stake, is in the process of constructing a third hangar with up to eleven maintenance lines as it seeks to support China Southern’s growing fleet and increase its involvement with third-party projects including passenger-to-freighter conversions and freighter maintenance. GAMECO broke ground […]

European, Middle Eastern carriers see growth return in May first look

• Brianne Ledda
• June 25, 2019
• All Posts, Capacity & Demand, Carriers

After a particularly weak April for air cargo traffic, carriers based in Europe and the Middle East saw growth return in our first look at May results. Among those carriers based outside Europe and the Middle East, only China Southern Airlines reported a year-over-year increase for May traffic, of 1.1%. Turkish Cargo reported the strongest […]