The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has released data for global air cargo markets for June showing that African airlines’ international cargo demand for the period increased 33.5 per cent compared to the same month in 2019.
It said it was the strongest performance of all regions, but notably on small volumes (African carriers carry 2 per cent of global cargo).
The global airlines’ body also stated that international capacity in June decreased by 4.9 per cent compared to the same month in 2019.
The report also showed that Asia-Pacific airlines saw demand for international air cargo increase by 3.8 percent in June 2021 compared to the same month in 2019.
International capacity remained constrained in the region, down 19.8 percent versus June 2019.
The North American carriers posted a 23.4 per cent increase in international demand in June 2021 compared to June 2019.
“Underlying economic conditions and favorable supply chain dynamics remain supportive for air cargo carriers in North America. International capacity decreased by 2.1 per cent compared with June 2019,” IATA stated.
European carriers posted a 6.6 per cent increase in international demand in June 2021 compared to the same month in 2019 while international capacity decreased by 16.2 per cent during the period compared to June 2019.
Middle Eastern carriers posted a 17.1 per cent rise in international cargo volumes in June 2021 versus June 2019, boosted by strong performances on the Middle East to Asia and Middle East to North America trade routes.
International capacity in June was down 9 per cent compared to the same month in 2019.
Latin American carriers reported a decline of 22.9 per cent in international cargo volumes in June compared to the 2019 period.
The report described the performance as the “worst” of all regions and a weakening of performance compared to the previous month.
International capacity decreased 28.4 per cent in June 2021 compared to June 2019.
“This weak performance is mostly due to local airlines losing market share to carriers from other regions,” the report added.
In summary, IATA said global air cargo markets for June 2021, measured in cargo tonne-kilometers (CTKs) showed a 9.9 per cent improvement on pre-COVID-19 performance (June 2019).
The performance pushed first half-year air cargo growth to 8 per cent, its strongest first half performance since 2017 (when the industry posted 10.2 percent year-on-year growth).
It stated that North American carriers contributed 5.9 percentage points (ppts) to the 9.9 per cent growth rate in June; Middle East carriers, 2.1 ppts; European airlines, 1.6 ppts; African airlines 0.5 ppts; Asia-Pacific carriers, 0.3 ppts while Latin American carriers did not support the growth, shaving 0.5 ppts off the total.
Overall capacity, measured in available cargo tonne-kilometers (ACTKs), remained constrained at 10.8 per cent below pre-COVID-19 levels (June 2019) due to the ongoing grounding of passenger aircraft.
Belly capacity was down 38.9 per cent on June 2019 levels, partially offset by a 29.7 per cent increase in dedicated freighter capacity.
“Air cargo is doing brisk business as the global economy continues its recovery from the COVID-19 crisis. With first-half demand 8% above pre-crisis levels, air cargo is a revenue lifeline for many airlines as they struggle with border closures that continue to devastate the international passenger business. Importantly, the strong first-half performance looks set to continue,” the director general of IATA, Willie Walsh, said.
