According to the latest market data from IATA, air cargo demand in April showed signs of improvement, although still experiencing a decline compared to the previous year, reports London's Air Cargo News
According to the latest market data from IATA, air cargo demand in April showed signs of improvement, although still experiencing a decline compared to the previous year, reports London's Air Cargo News. The data revealed a 6.6 per cent decrease in demand, measured in cargo tonne kilometres (CTKs), compared to April 2022. However, this decline was less severe than the 7.6 per cent year-on-year drop recorded in the previous month.
In contrast, capacity in terms of available cargo tonne-kilometres (ACTK) saw a significant increase of 13.4 per cent in April 2023 compared to the same month in 2022.
Moreover, it surpassed pre-Covid levels 3.2 per cent when compared to April 2019, marking the first time in three years that capacity has exceeded pre-Covid crisis levels.
This surge in capacity was primarily driven by the recovery of passenger business and flights, leading to an increase in belly capacity. However, freighter capacity experienced a decline of 2.3 per cent.
March 2023 marked the end of the 'preighter' era, which involved utilizing passenger aircraft for cargo transportation after being in operation for two and a half years.
Despite the challenges, the market fundamentals appeared to be strong. The global new export orders component of the Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) showed improvement in April. China's PMI exceeded the critical 50 mark, indicating growing demand for manufactured goods in the region.
Global trade in goods also saw a slight increase of 0.2 per cent in March, representing the first annual rise since November 2022.
Additionally, IATA noted that consumer and producer price increases have started to moderate, suggesting a stabilization in pricing trends.
'The air cargo industry is adjusting itself to the implications of the recovery in passenger demand that brings with it an expansion of belly capacity. Preighter operations stopped in March, and freighter services were scaled back by 2.3 per cent in April,' said IATA director general Willie Walsh.
'The demand environment is challenging to read. Tapering inflation is definitely a positive. But the degree and speed at which that could lead to looser monetary policies that might stimulate demand is unclear. The resilience that got the air cargo industry through the Covid-19 crisis is also critical in the aftermath.'
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