The usually hard-pressed air cargo industry found a bright moment in September as it chalked up a more than 5% gain in volume, something not seen in two years, according to airline data service provider WorldACD.
Air freight grew 5.2% in September compared to the same month a year ago, with traffic from Europe making the biggest progress with a volume increase of 8%, followed by Asia Pacific. Latin America again did not contribute any growth, remaining in the doldrums.
At the country level, the US and China stood out as the most important growth markets, both inbound and outbound.
Additionally, Hong Kong appeared to have started its climb towards the November peak somewhat earlier than in previous years.
This year, September counted one Friday more than last year, adding a full 1% point to growth, but it did not take away from the fact that September has been a strong month, said WorldACD.
Worlwide yield also made strides. “With a 1.4% increase month-over-month (MoM), worldwide yield—expressed in USD—added some further lustre to the uplifting September data,” said the report.
Comparing the third quarter of 2016 to the second quarter shows that year-over-year volumes were up 3.2% in July-September against the 2.3% growth posted in April-June, while yields—after having slipped in Q2—slightly increased.
Carriers based in Europe showed the highest growth (4.6%), followed by those from Asia Pacific (3.2%) and the Middle East (2.9%). Among the larger forwarders, Expeditors, CEVA, and Agility chalked up the highest growth in Q3.
In terms of DTKs or direct tonne kilometers—i.e. the weight carried multiplied by the shortest distance between origin and destination of a shipment—DTKs grew by 4.3% while worldwide kilograms in the third quarter increased by 3.2% year-over-year. This shows that growth was larger in long-haul traffic than in short haul, said the report, noting that the latter actually stagnated, except for intra-Asia Pacific traffic which increased by 5%. The long-haul markets from Europe to Asia Pacific and from Asia Pacific to North America were particularly fast growing: 9% and 10%, respectively.
“Interestingly, we also noted that business originating in (or destined for) carriers’ hubs, actually did not grow at all, meaning that indirect transport (business via carriers’ hubs) was responsible for the entire YoY growth in Q3.”
HK, Singapore report air freight spikes
Meanwhile Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) records corroborated WorldACD figures, as it logged growth in traffic for September 2016. During the month, cargo throughput grew 7.2% to 394,000 tonnes when compared to the same period in 2015.
Transshipments, which experienced a 15% increase compared to the same month last year, continued to be the main driver of growth in cargo throughput. Traffic to and from key trading regions in North America and Southeast Asia increased most significantly in September.
During the first nine months of 2016, cargo traffic increased by 1.2% to 3.2 million tonnes. On a rolling 12-month basis, HKIA handled 4.4 million tonnes of cargo, marking a year-on-year increase of 0.9%.
Singapore Changi Airport’s cargo shipments also rose, up 7.8% in September to reach 167,100 tonnes compared to the same period last year.
Cargo shipments totaled 1.44 million tonnes during the first three quarters of 2016, 5.5% higher compared to the same period last year. This was the fastest pace of growth in the past five years, said Changi authorities.
Photo courtesy of Changi Airport
