Airfreight Insights
Read our Airfreight Insights to find out about the latest developments in the global air cargo industry. Get an update on trade and rate developments as well as flexible solutions offered by cargo-partner to deal with the current challenges.
Current market assessment from February 27, 2023:
As expected, China’s air import tonnages fell just before the Chinese New Year (CNY) on February 10, contributing to a -12% week-on-week decline in overall global air freight tonnages, according to the latest figures. This slump negatively impacted intra-Asia Pacific traffic too.
In a week-on-week analysis, China’s inbound and outbound air cargo tonnages were down -15% and -2% respectively. This follows a spike in tonnages and rates from China in the two weeks leading up to the Chinese New Year, as shippers rushed to get goods out before the holiday period. Both inbound and outbound tonnages are expected to continue to decline this week.
This pattern is quite similar to last year, although global tonnages are currently above last year’s levels. Comparing the overall global market to this time last year, chargeable weight has increased by +10% and total capacity is up by +16% year-on-year. These digits, especially ex-Asia Pacific, can be at least partly explained by the difference in the timing of CNY this year, which fell nearly three weeks later than in 2023.
Does air freight benefit from the Red Sea crisis?
Another significant development emerged on the trade lanes from the Middle East and South Asia to Europe. Tonnages grew by +6% in the second half of February, accompanied by a +10% increase in average rates on this lane. This surge most likely reflects the conversion of some Asia-Europe ocean freight transports due to the ongoing disruptions to container shipping in the Red Sea.
All of these factors have resulted in air freight rates that are a third lower than last year, although still well above pre-COVID-19 levels (+ 34%).
cargo-partner ranked in “Top 25 Airfreight Forwarder List”
We are proud to announce that cargo-partner once again achieved a rank within the Top 25 Airfreight Forwarder Ranking published by Armstrong & Associates.
read more »
75 year anniversary of the Berlin Airlift
75 years ago, the Soviet Union imposed the Berlin Blockade, and in an instant, millions of residents were cut off from the rest of the world. It was quickly decided to supply the metropolis from the air...
A talk with Lufthansa Cargo CEO Ashwin Bhat
We invited Ashwin Bhat for a short chat about sustainable aviaition fuel (SAF), respectful relationships and a very clever African proverb...
Air Freight Market China
With the COVID-19 restrictions lifted, everyday life in China is largely back to the way it was before the pandemic and the aviation industry has recovered rapidly in the first quarter of 2023. Overall, China’s economy has recovered noticeably...
read more »
Interview with Turhan Özen - CCO at Turkish Airlines
Serving 132 countries worldwide, Turkish Cargo has been active since 1933. We took the opportunity to talk to Chief Cargo Officer, Turhan Özen, about Turkish’s “smart” central hub, their talkative Chatbot and the recent e-commerce boom.
AeroSHARK: gliding through the clouds
Following a proven “natural design,” a new transparent film applied to the fuselage and engines imitates shark skin to reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions of planes. Learn more about this thin film with a big impact...
Corona Situation China
China's fight against the COVID pandemic has reached a new phase: the central government announced a 10-point plan to scale back its strict zero COVID policy...
read more »
Latin America Airfreight Boom
According to IATA, Latin America is once again the #1 airfreight region with a remarkable year-on-year increase of total air cargo traffic of 9.2%. This development was led by the service sectors commerce and transportation.
read more »
Freighter Boom in the Airfreight Industry
At present, the airline industry is witnessing a considerable trend towards more freighter solutions to cope with the growing demand for air cargo capacity. Recently Boeing confirmed this trend and forecasts a faster growth of the cargo business. This results in interesting developments...
read more »
Sustainable Aviation Fuel
The steady growth of the aviation industry comes with an increase in environmentally harmful emissions. The most promising path to reducing CO₂ emissions in aviation lies in Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF)...
read more »
