CLIVE Data Services' latest weekly market intelligence shows that demand in the general air cargo market in the last month of 2021 slipped 5 per cent in chargeable weight, compared to the pre-Covid level of December 2019, as continuing supply chain issues, congestion on the ground, and concerns over the new Omicron virus suppressed any end-of-year uptick.
However, volumes rose by one per cent compared to December 2020,, the data showed.
Q4 2021 data show that issues facing the air cargo market were driven by supply chain challenges, and less so by soaring volumes.
In October, CLIVE's 'dynamic loadfactor' - which measures both the volume and weight perspectives of cargo flown and capacity available to produce a true indicator of airline performance - reported a lower load factor for the time of year than expected, followed in November by a 1.2 per cent drop in volumes.
Cargo capacity has remained slow to return to the pre-Covid level. In December 2021, it fell 12 per cent compared to December 2019. The 'dynamic loadfactor' for December of 65 per cent was up two percentage points versus two years ago.
The big growth curve in Q4 of 2021 was in airfreight rates, which in December climbed at a global level to 168 per cent ahead of December 2019 (+42 per cent versus December 2020), following earlier monthly gains compared to 2019 of 155 per cent and 159 per cent in October and November 2021 respectively.
'It was certainly more complex to ship goods from A to B in 2021 by all modes of transport, which has continued to increase rates. In the general air cargo market, we've seen airlines focus more on managing margins than on filling aircraft,' said Niall van de Wouw, CLIVE's managing director.
'This latest December data amplifies what we saw in November, with issues on the ground impacting the efficiency of the value chain. The rapid increase on Omicron and its impact on staff availability, hard lockdowns and their impact on business and consumer confidence are likely at play here.'
He added: 'Looking at 2021 overall, after a very strong start to the year and pretty solid middle months, we witnessed a not-so-strong ending of the year. The wear and tear of close to 20 months of Covid started to really impact the efficiency of the value chain towards the end of 2021, and there are still no fundamental changes expected in the short-term that would change the current dynamics of supply chain shortages and elevated rates.'
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However, volumes rose by one per cent compared to December 2020,, the data showed.
Q4 2021 data show that issues facing the air cargo market were driven by supply chain challenges, and less so by soaring volumes.
In October, CLIVE's 'dynamic loadfactor' - which measures both the volume and weight perspectives of cargo flown and capacity available to produce a true indicator of airline performance - reported a lower load factor for the time of year than expected, followed in November by a 1.2 per cent drop in volumes.
Cargo capacity has remained slow to return to the pre-Covid level. In December 2021, it fell 12 per cent compared to December 2019. The 'dynamic loadfactor' for December of 65 per cent was up two percentage points versus two years ago.
The big growth curve in Q4 of 2021 was in airfreight rates, which in December climbed at a global level to 168 per cent ahead of December 2019 (+42 per cent versus December 2020), following earlier monthly gains compared to 2019 of 155 per cent and 159 per cent in October and November 2021 respectively.
'It was certainly more complex to ship goods from A to B in 2021 by all modes of transport, which has continued to increase rates. In the general air cargo market, we've seen airlines focus more on managing margins than on filling aircraft,' said Niall van de Wouw, CLIVE's managing director.
'This latest December data amplifies what we saw in November, with issues on the ground impacting the efficiency of the value chain. The rapid increase on Omicron and its impact on staff availability, hard lockdowns and their impact on business and consumer confidence are likely at play here.'
He added: 'Looking at 2021 overall, after a very strong start to the year and pretty solid middle months, we witnessed a not-so-strong ending of the year. The wear and tear of close to 20 months of Covid started to really impact the efficiency of the value chain towards the end of 2021, and there are still no fundamental changes expected in the short-term that would change the current dynamics of supply chain shortages and elevated rates.'
SeaNews Turkey