News / Air freight volumes shrinking fast – but there may be a glimmer of hope

Clive Data Services

Air freight volumes are declining at an increased pace – last week, figures were down, year on year, by 48%.

This follows 27%  and 11% declines recorded the previous two weeks, according to Clive Data Services, and supports anecdotal evidence revealed in The Loadstar last week.

The biggest pace of decline was seen on Europe to North America, down 51% last week year-on-year. The least affected lane was Asia Pacific to Europe, down 35%.

“Covid-19 raised its ugly head faster and faster in the air cargo industry in March, as global cargo volumes for the month fell 23% versus the same four weeks of 2019,” said Niall van de Wouw, Clive’s managing director.

Clive added that the ‘dynamic load factor’ for the four-week period, 68%, based on both the volume and weight perspectives of cargo flown and capacity available, represented a decrease of 1.5% points versus 2019, but an increase of 3% points on February 2020.

However, there may be a silver lining, noted Mr van de Wouw.

“Sadly, there is no getting away from the overall concerning developments we are seeing in the global air cargo market, but there is perhaps a little bit of hope to be found in Asia, which was hit first by the outbreak of Covid-19.

“In previous data, we reported the step-by-step improvement on the Hong Kong to Europe market, and this is continuing. The reported volumes for the last week of March were 26% higher than before the Chinese New Year holiday started.

“If this is sustained, it will at least offer some hope of the speed with which air cargo traffic can recover after a very difficult time,” said Mr van de Wouw.