Airports

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 global air cargo industry is flying into bracing headwinds, but airline CEOs remain largely positive that demand will return early next year.

There is no sign of an air cargo peak season this year and few signals that 2023 will see any improvement as global economic conditions worsen.

Sanctions against Russia have sharply reduced available heavy-lift air tonnage even as energy sector demand escalates.

Maersk's new air freight facility in Chicago is building on its fast-growing air cargo offering following the November 2021 acquisition of Senator International and purchase of new freighters for its Maersk Air Cargo division.

Demand for air cargo declined through September, and analysts say there is nothing in their data to indicate a pickup in volume out of Asia through the balance of the year.

Average air cargo rates on east-west trade lanes have declined significantly since April as demand slows in line with the traditional slack summer season.

An ongoing shortage of capacity on the main trade lanes out of Asia and growing signs of declining demand are clouding the air cargo outlook for the remainder 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.

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.

Carriers said while Shanghai’s main container terminals at Yangshan and Waigaoqiao remain open, many depots and warehouses are shut, and trucking is severely curtailed.

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.

While Antonov's smaller AN-124s continue to operate, restoring the behemoth AN-225 will take five years and cost more than $3 billion, according to the Ukrainian government's news outlet.

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.

The creativity of service providers is being tested as COVID-19 infections continue to spread around Asia and disrupt regional supply lines.

The Georgia Ports Authority this week began moving import containers belonging to a US retailer to the spare runway at Statesboro Airport, which has been used to store empty boxes and loaded exports since December.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to hang over the air cargo business, and until regular international travel resumes, shippers will find space in tight supply and rates at elevated levels.

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.

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

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.