Air cargo carriers

A widening imbalance between available air freight capacity and demand has dragged global rates to their lowest level since the start of the pandemic, with no signs of volumes improving on key outbound routes from Asia.

Spot rates have fallen significantly over the past year, but there is still some way to go before prices are back to 2019 levels.

AlisCargo will join MSC’s air freight division in early 2024 as the ocean carrier steadily builds out its global air network.

Air cargo capacity continues to grow through the summer, outpacing weak demand from major destination markets with no sign yet of any turnaround.

Forwarders in 2021 signed long-term air cargo charters to meet rising demand for air freight resulting from an overheated ocean market, and some of those charter deals are still in place despite a widespread demand slowdown.

The 123,000-square-foot warehouse will also serve as a forward staging area for the carrier’s South Carolina-based flight operations that link the southeast US to Germany, China and South Korea.

Weak demand from key regions in an air freight industry awash with excess capacity is forcing forwarders with block space agreements to fend off aggressive pricing policies by rivals.

There is little demand to be seen in air cargo routes out of Asia, but the aggressive expansion of Maersk Air Cargo connections to the US and Europe points to strong interest from the carrier’s existing customers.

The air and ocean shipping sectors have set out their decarbonization agendas, but policy help is urgently required to underpin investment in new fuel technology and production, a global trade group says.

The airline industry has performed better than expected so far this year, with the International Air Transport Association providing a surprisingly sunny financial outlook for an industry with a forecasted profit margin of just 1.2%.

There are few signs of improvement in demand for air freight on major trade lanes out of Asia, while a steady increase in below-deck belly capacity is adding to the downward pressure on rate levels.

International air express carrier DHL is building out its US footprint to gain greater density and reach in its largest market, its CEO for the Americas says.

There are concerns that the latest requirement could force the price of sustainable aviation fuel higher, which would be felt in the pockets of airline passengers and cargo shippers.

Maersk’s growing air cargo capacity is being used to plug gaps in connectivity in the carrier’s integrated end-to-end logistics offering.

The 10-year partnership between Air France-KLM and CMA CGM will dramatically expand the available air cargo capacity and global network of the France-based fleet.

In addition to long-haul passenger aircraft with significant belly freight capacity coming back into service to capture growing travel business, several airlines are adding freighters to the major trade lanes.

Freight rate booking marketplace Freightos said its unprofitable business is seeing improving margins and that scale will help it past the breakeven point.

The post-pandemic recovery of China’s economy following the lifting of restrictions late last year is sparking increasingly optimistic expectations for the air cargo market in 2023 despite a challenging start to the year.

The container shipping industry’s profit margins are easing, but the appetite for acquisitions — from air cargo units to last-mile delivery logistics — isn’t letting up, writes Journal of Commerce Executive Editor Mark Szakonyi.

The traditional air cargo market slowdown has been exaggerated by an early start to the Lunar New Year and an unfavorable comparison with last year’s robust peak season.

Freightos’ public listing on the NASDAQ will be the first test of how public investors value one of the more prominent logistics technology companies to emerge over the past decade.

Whereas a shortage of capacity in major trades was the chief issue for air cargo providers over the past two years, the greatest challenge in 2023 will be a lack of demand.

The weakness in Asia’s air freight export markets continued through the traditionally strong month of November, with little prospect of an end-of-year boost in demand.

The expanding platform provided by shippers seeking green transport has allowed Maersk to ramp up its ocean sustainability efforts, with greening landside logistics the next target.

Growing uncertainty over demand levels and falling rates is making longer-term traditional air freight block space agreements unattractive.

Cementing access to controlled air freight capacity is behind MSC’s move to join peers CMA CGM and Maersk in launching an air cargo division.

China’s rolling COVID-19 lockdowns and significant disruption linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have left the global air freight market to face a difficult second half of the year.

Air cargo capacity is flooding back into the trans-Atlantic market via below deck belly space as travel increases and airlines ramp up their summer schedules.

If the offer by MSC and Lufthansa for ITA is successful, it will provide the ocean carrier with access to significant air freight capacity.

In just 18 months, CMA CGM has gone from providing air cargo as part of its CEVA Logistics suite of services to becoming a major player in the global air freight market.

Shippers of time-sensitive goods on the North Europe-North America trade are increasingly being forced into the air as rising congestion on the US East Coast extends vessel delays.

Bonded trucking services in and out of Shanghai’s Pudong have been suspended and most flights have been canceled, bringing operations at China’s busiest cargo airport to a standstill.

The ever-widening effects of Russia’s war on Ukraine and China’s COVID-19 lockdowns are placing mounting pressure on an already stressed air cargo sector.

Growing demand for e-commerce is behind forwarder moves to lock in controlled air freight capacity on Asia-US routes, with a particular focus on Vietnam.

An update to new COVID-19 quarantine rules in Hong Kong has prompted Cathay Pacific to halted long-haul freight flights, potentially exacerbating a supply crunch ahead of the Lunar New Year peak.

Toughening Hong Kong’s quarantine requirement for air cargo pilots would severely disrupt airfreight operations during peak air cargo season and ahead of China’s Lunar New Year holiday.

An electronic connection between CargoWise and Singapore Airlines is another sign that digital management of bookings and shipment modifications is gaining momentum in the air cargo market.

The bottlenecks that have frustrated ocean shippers all year have spread to air cargo, pushing up rates to stratospheric levels and delaying shipments.

International air freight and last-mile delivery saw the fastest revenue growth in the transportation sector last year, while industrial transportation suffered.

Global air cargo volumes in August and September were up just 1 percent compared to the same months in 2019, but the shortage of capacity has shippers fighting to secure capacity ahead of holiday season.