WorldACD reported that global air cargo volumes continued to drop in April mainly due to cargo capacity crunch caused by the forced inactivity of many passenger aircraft.

In a statement, it said chargeable weight carried by air, decreased 31.7% year-on-year in April and dropped by 22.8% compared with March 2020.

In the midst of aviation’s biggest crisis though, WorldACD said worldwide air cargo revenues went up in April, by 36% year-on-year and by 26% compared to the month prior.

WorldACD said per region, revenues decreased the most for African airlines, recording 18% decline and 4% for carriers in the Americas. It, however, increased 70% for the Asia Pacific, 44% for the Middle East and South Asia and 30% for Europe.

WorldACD said in particular, revenue growth was greatest for pharmaceuticals, rising 116% and vulnerable and high tech cargo, up 71%.

The conversion of passenger aircraft to cargo-only operations was most successful in Latin America, the Middle East and South Asia and the Asia Pacific, but WorldACD said it "seemed less impressive" in North America, Africa and Europe.

Field day for all-cargo freighters

"Airlines operating nothing but freighters, had a field day in April, with cargo carried only slightly less than in March, but with revenue growth of 29%," WorldACD said.

Interestingly, it noted that airlines with a mixed fleet managed to raise their unit prices by much more — or 71% from March — and they were in turn outdone by the passenger airlines, rising 95% month-on-month.

"The mixed airlines lost a quarter of the volumes they carried one month earlier and the passenger airlines half…. in all origin areas except Europe and North America, the ‘mixed’ airlines outdid the two other airline categories in terms of revenue growth," it added.

Compared to March 2020, WorldACD said the express business fared better than general cargo, particularly from the Asia Pacific.

"The smallest category of parcels decreased the most, while large shipments of more than 5000kg 'hardly lost ground' and achieved greater than average growth in yields," it added. 

Volumes picking up

Carving up April in three periods of 10 days each, we saw an uptick in the third period, WorldACD said.

The last 10 days of April recorded worldwide volumes 6% higher than in the first 10 days.

The different origin regions showed varying patterns: Africa +5% and the Asia Pacific +8%, MESA +14% and Latin America +32%. Europe and North America were the only regions with a below-average last 10 days, with -1% and -5% respectively.