News / Asia Pacific traffic gives Mexican freight flows a boost

Photo: © Suriel Ramirez Zaldivar

With a third A330 freighter added to its fleet, Awesome Cargo started scheduled charter flights from its Mexico City base to Ezhou via Anchorage in late June, operating on behalf of Kuehne + Nagel.

Running four times a week, the flight carries a mix of e-commerce, high-value and time-sensitive cargo.

Transpacific flows have been a massive driver of rising airfreight volumes at Mexican airports, tonnage growing through the first five months of the year, adding up to 507,792 tons in the period, up 5.5% from the same time a year ago.

This expansion was driven by international traffic, which climbed 8.3% year on year.

The largest portion of this traffic moved through Felipe Angeles International Airport (NLU), the Mexican capital’s designated gateway for freighter operations, which clocked up 167,262 tons in the first five months, an increase of 9.7%, with international volumes up 11.3%.

In terms of percentage growth, it was outpaced by Guadalajara, which registered a 17.3% increase in overall tonnage, and 24% in international cargo, over the period.

The airport has benefited from AI/data server-related traffic pouring into Mexico, noted Robert Van De Weg, CEO of Mexican cargo airline mas.

Three out of the top ten international routes, including the top two, were between Mexico and Asia. Those two link NLU with Shanghai and Hong Kong, while Hong Kong-Guadalajara ranked seventh.

On the airline side, FedEx retained its top spot ,with a 10.5% increase in tonnage over the first five months of the year, followed by Cathay Pacific and China Southern, which grew their volumes 6.9% and 29% respectively. Between them the threesome accounted for 32.9% of the market, according to AFAC, Mexico’s federal civil aviation agency.

Mas’s schedule has been affected by maintenance work, but it still runs three to five weekly flights to Asia.

“Business has been rather steady despite the fuel spike,” said Mr Van De Weg, adding that volume growth in late May and early June was driven by the football World Cup.

International cargo flows have also been going strong at Lazaro Cardenas, Mexico’s second-largest maritime cargo gateway on the Pacific coast.

Despite a temporary closure due to a storm and strained customs capacity, the port saw tonnage climb beyond 15.5m tons in the first half of the year, an increase of 16% year on year and a new record. While auto-related traffic was a major driver, management has stressed that the port’s diversified mix had given it greater stability.

A large chunk of Mexican imports is for assembly into products ultimately destined for the US market. The most recent official statistics show $87.23bn worth of cross-border trade in May, a 17.06% increase year on year that cemented Mexico’s status as the US’s top trade partner, with a widening gap over Canada and China, ranking second and third.

Nevertheless, a recent poll of 32 economists by Reuters indicates a note of pessimism due to the failure of the USMCA nations to renew their free-trade pact. The median estimate of this poll points to a slowdown of Mexico’s GDP to 1.6% growth this year and 1.8% in 2027, down from predictions of 1.5% and 1.9% made in April. Economists cited the element of uncertainty brought about by the prospect of annual reviews of the trade pact as a factor that should complicate long-term investment decisions.

Adding to these concerns, in May, manufacturing activity in Mexico was 0.1% lower than a year ago, according to the IMOAM monthly indicator, which is regarded as a key barometer for the manufacturing sector.