DECLINING freighter flight hours for all-cargo airlines is another indication of a weakening air freight market, reports New York's FreightWaves.
Air freighter deployment fell 8.1 per cent in January, the second steepest decline in three years after a nine per cent drop in December, according to a recent report by the Bank of Montreal's BMO Capital Markets.
Several airlines have recently reported diminished flight hours or said they expected slower operating activity this year.
The year-on-year contraction in flight hours, which accelerated last fall, is affecting most markets. The North America-Asia trade experienced a 15.5 per cent decline in January while North America-Europe flight hours declined 7.7 per cent, BMO Capital Markets said. Freighter utilisation fell 18.6 per cent between Europe and Asia.
Domestic North American flight hours in January slid 4.8 per cent, an improvement from the 11.1 per cent decline in December but also a 3.6 per cent decline from the same month in 2019. The December figure was impacted by the lack of peak season ordering as retailers worked off excess inventory and the fact that 2021 was a record for air volumes.
Still, global freighter usage is 14 per cent above pre-pandemic levels.
The analysis also shows that flight hours declined 14.8 per cent month to month in January, slightly worse than the average seasonality for that slow time of year, according to BMO's research.
SeaNews Turkey
Air freighter deployment fell 8.1 per cent in January, the second steepest decline in three years after a nine per cent drop in December, according to a recent report by the Bank of Montreal's BMO Capital Markets.
Several airlines have recently reported diminished flight hours or said they expected slower operating activity this year.
The year-on-year contraction in flight hours, which accelerated last fall, is affecting most markets. The North America-Asia trade experienced a 15.5 per cent decline in January while North America-Europe flight hours declined 7.7 per cent, BMO Capital Markets said. Freighter utilisation fell 18.6 per cent between Europe and Asia.
Domestic North American flight hours in January slid 4.8 per cent, an improvement from the 11.1 per cent decline in December but also a 3.6 per cent decline from the same month in 2019. The December figure was impacted by the lack of peak season ordering as retailers worked off excess inventory and the fact that 2021 was a record for air volumes.
Still, global freighter usage is 14 per cent above pre-pandemic levels.
The analysis also shows that flight hours declined 14.8 per cent month to month in January, slightly worse than the average seasonality for that slow time of year, according to BMO's research.
SeaNews Turkey
