According to Aircargo News, air freight rates on major trade routes between East and West declined in April. The available air cargo capacity on routes outside Asia is increasing significantly, but weak demand in major markets affected by inflation is dragging down freight rates, and airlines have to park more freighters due to reduced demand.
Headquartered in the Netherlands air cargo analysis company WorldACD data show that in the past month, the freight capacity outside Asia increased by 36%, while the transport tonnage fell by 7%, Asia and Europe, Asia and North America and both sides of the Atlantic between the prices are falling, all Asian export routes of the overall tariff plummeted 44%.
Willie Walsh, director general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) of, said air cargo was volatile in the first quarter of 2023. In March, overall demand fell below pre-outbreak levels, and most indicators of the underlying drivers of air cargo demand were "weak or weakening".
According to the May market summary of the TAC index, which drives the Baltic Aviation Index (BAI), demand in certain key areas has been weak, while capacity in dedicated cargo aircraft and passenger aircraft belly space has continued to grow.
airlines have added flights to their summer schedules, with long-haul aircraft injecting significant under-deck cargo capacity into the market. So rates on the east-west trade route have been trending downward since February, according to BAI, with Shanghai-North America falling 12 per cent this week to $5.03 a kilo and Shanghai-Northern Europe falling 20 per cent since the end of February to $3.43.
stabilize the market
global trade has also continued to decline since November 2022, with weaker support for the air cargo industry. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) wrote in a recent market update that the latest monthly industry-wide cargo tonne-km (CTK) data, which measures international air cargo demand, has recorded 13 consecutive months of year-over-year declines.
although the iata noted that the annual rate of decline in air cargo ctk has slowed in the past two months, "indicating a certain degree of stability". But freight forwarders and airlines are divided on how the air cargo market will develop in the short term.
Cathay Pacific's chief customer and commercial officer, Lavinia Lau, said, "We will adjust our cargo capacity in a flexible manner to reflect the demand situation. Although the demand situation is still unstable, it is generally weaker than previous periods."
DSV CEO Jens Bjørn Andersen also said that in the first quarter we saw positive air cargo momentum and that he "hopes" in the coming quarters to continue.
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