Air cargo recovery slows in June with demand rising to 82.4% of June 2019's: IATA

london — Global demand for air freight transport in cargo tonne-kilometre (CTKs) slumped 17.6% year on year in June, but it represents a recovery from the 20.1% drop in May, the International Air Transport Association said in a press release July 28.

Looking at specific regions, European airlines recorded a 27.6% year-on-year fall in international cargo volumes in June, up from a 29.5% drop in May, while North American carriers reported a decrease of only 8.8% year-on-year in June, the smallest contraction of all regions. Meanwhile, Asia-Pacific airlines saw demand for international air cargo slump 20% year-on-year in June, down from an 18.8% drop in May.

In term of global availability, air cargo capacity measured in available cargo tonne-kilometers [ACTKs] plunged 34.1% year-on-year in June, broadly stable versus the 34.8% slump observed in May.

"Cargo is, by far, healthier than the passenger markets but doing business remains exceptionally challenging. While economic activity is re-starting after major lockdown disruptions there has not been a major boost in demand," IATA's Director General and CEO Alexandre de Juniac said. "The capacity crunch continues because passenger operations are recovering very slowly," he added.

Global passenger flight capacity increased 2.6% on the week to 57.5 million seats for the week starting July 27, but this is still 52% below last year's level and the short-term outlook does not offer much hope of a significant recovery this year, aviation information provider OAG said July 27. While scheduled airline capacity jumped 10.5% week on week in Western Europe, airlines there are only operating at 56.9% of January levels in terms of weekly seat capacity.

Looking at longer-haul travel, a comparison of scheduled airline capacity for flights greater than 3,000 nautical miles (around 5,556 km) shows that only 16% of capacity will be operating the week starting July 27 compared with a year earlier.