Air Cargo Carriers News

Air India and Air New Zealand are the last two defendants in a long-running antitrust litigation brought against nearly 30 providers of air cargo services, but a nasty surprise could be in store for the carriers in a trial scheduled for September.

Another multimillion-dollar settlement was reached in the long-running antitrust class action lawsuit in the U.S. that has involved most of the world’s major carriers, with Air China agreeing to pay $50 million.

Global air cargo traffic increased 2.2 percent year-over-year in 2015, less than half the 5 percent rise in 2014, due mainly to sluggish trade growth in Europe and Asia-Pacific, according to the International Air Transport Association.

ANA Holdings Inc. and Japan Airlines Corp. both saw their group net profits soar in the first nine months of the fiscal year ending March 31 on a year-over-year basis, despite lower cargo revenues.

Cargolux bucked the downward trend in Europe’s air cargo market, boosting traffic by 7.4 percent in 2015 and unveiling plans to increase its freighter fleet.

Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings’ plan to acquire competitor Southern Air Holdings will diversify the air cargo carriers’ fleet, strengthen its relationship with its biggest customer, DHL Express, and position it to grow in the U.S. and globally, according to a BB&T analyst.

Cargolux is to invest $77 million in Cargolux China, a new joint venture carrier, scheduled to start operations in 2017.

Cathay Pacific and sister carrier Dragonair handled just short of 1.8 million tons of air cargo in 2015, recording growth of 4.3 percent despite a difficult year for the air freight industry as it struggled to balance capacity supply and demand.

Lufthansa Cargo retained its top ranking among Europe’s cargo airlines in 2015 even as traffic shrank 2.4 percent from the previous year and two more freighters are being taken out of service.

The decline in global air cargo demand “may be bottoming out”, following a month-on-month increase in November traffic, according to the International Air Transportation Association.

The International Air Transport Association will urge member airlines to prepare for a possible surge in air freight volumes caused by possible disruptions when the new container weighing requirements are implemented globally from July.

Polar Air Cargo will pay customers $100 million after settling an on-going antitrust class action lawsuit that has drawn in most of the world’s major carriers and so far generated more than $1.1 billion in settlements.

Qatar Airways has taken delivery of two new freighters, expanding its all-cargo fleet to 16 aircraft and consolidating its position as the world’s third-largest international air freight carrier.

Air France’s troubled cargo unit faces further disruption as unions have called for five days of strikes across the carrier in January.

China Airlines, Yang Ming Line and Chungwa Post, Taiwan’s national postal service will cooperate on sea and air freight services to better compete in the booming e-commerce market in Asia.

Qatar Airways Cargo is launching a new freighter route to Dallas/Fort Worth from Liege in the new year that the carrier says will be the start of a major expansion of its network and fleet through 2016.

Russia’s AirBridgeCargo Airlines pulled further ahead of its struggling Europe rivals, with traffic soaring 27 percent in November from a year ago despite the deepening economic crisis in its domestic market.

Cargolux has agreed to a new labor contract with its pilots, removing the threat of a strike at Europe’s largest all-cargo airline.

A European Union court today overturned 790 million euros ($861 million) in fines against 11 airlines, including Air France-KLM and British Airways, for participating in a global cartel that fixed air freight rates.

Hong Kong’s airport and its leading airline saw their hopes for a strong air freight finish to the year dashed as November figures fell back into negative growth that has gripped the world’s busiest airport for most of the year.

Lufthansa and United Airlines plan to expand their current passenger partnership to cargo operations between Europe and the U.S.

The ban of belly cargo on Egypt Air passenger flights to North America is creating chaos in Egypt’s textiles and cottons sector, which has made up 45 percent of the country’s exports to the U.S. this year.

Cathay Pacific has agreed to pay $4.4 million to settle litigation in Canada in a cargo anti-trust class action in which the carrier was a defendant.

Six Volga-Dnepr crew members were among the 22 people killed in a terrorist raid on a hotel in the Mali capital of Bamako on Nov. 20, the Russian heavy-lift airline has announced.

Indonesia’s Minister of Transport threw down the gauntlet to domestic air carriers, warning that if they were not able to add international routes he would offer them to foreign airlines that were knocking at the door.

Air France-KLM’s cargo losses narrowed in the third quarter but revenue and traffic shrank as the carrier slashed its full-freighter capacity in a bid to return to the black.

Lufthansa Cargo is heading for its first annual loss in six years after Europe’s largest freight airline sank into the red for the second consecutive quarter.

Qatar Airways unveiled plans to build a new cargo terminal at its global hub at Hamad International Airport in Doha to keep pace with its “phenomenal” traffic growth.

All Nippon Airways Co.’s efforts to capture cargo normally moving through West Coast ports that was delayed because of congestion weren’t enough to offset weak demand from Europe and North America to Japan.

Russia’s AirBridgeCargo Airlines continues to outperform its European rivals with traffic soaring 28 percent in September despite the steep slump in its domestic economy.

Russia’s AirBridgeCargo Airlines is pulling further ahead of its troubled European rivals as it continues to post double digit increases in traffic month after month.

Air France KLM Martinair Cargo has signed a partnership agreement with China Southern Cargo spanning the carriers’ global networks.

Cathay Pacific and sister carrier Dragonair reported flat growth in air cargo during August as the Hong Kong-based airlines limp into the slack period before what is hoped will be a last-quarter peak season.

AirBridgeCargo, which has so far outperformed its European rivals this year, has begun operations connecting Moscow to Singapore's Changi Airport.

Perishables and pharmaceuticals — among the most lucrative segments of the air cargo because of the time-sensitive nature of their delivery — are at the forefront of air carrier plans to bolster revenue.

IAG Cargo has indefinitely extended the capacity partnership agreement with Qatar Airways that marked the Anglo-Spanish carrier’s exit from freighter operations a year ago.

Lufthansa Cargo and its affiliate Swiss WorldCargo are introducing a new simplified pricing system for the winter season in response to “the volatility of external cost factors.”

IAG Cargo’s revenue grew 8.8 percent in the second quarter as favorable exchange rate movements offset lower traffic and a flat load factor.

Japan Airlines Corp.’s revenue from cargo operations grew faster than overall revenue in the first quarter of fiscal 2015, helping the carrier’s net profit surge 120.7 percent in the April-June quarter from the same three-month period last year to 32.6 billion yen ($263 million) on a consolidated basis.

Lufthansa Cargo’s five-year winning streak ended abruptly in the second quarter as it slumped to a 68 million euros ($74.8 million) operating loss from a 20 million euro profit a year ago.