The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said global air freight markets in August showed that improvement remains slow amid insufficient capacity and demand moved slightly in a positive direction month-on-month; however, levels remain depressed compared to 2019.

In a statement, IATA noted that improvement continues, nonetheless, albeit at a slower pace than some of the traditional leading indicators would suggest.

It said this is due to the capacity constraint from the loss of available belly cargo space as passenger aircraft remain parked.  

IATA said global demand, measured in cargo tonne-kilometres (CTKs), was 12.6% below previous-year levels in August and recorded a 14% drop in international operations — representing a "modest improvement" from the 14.4% year-on-year drop recorded in July.  

Drop in capacity persists

Global capacity, measured in available cargo tonne-kilometres (ACTKs), also shrank by 29.4% in August — declining by 31.6% specifically for international operations compared to the previous year and IATA noted is "basically unchanged" from the 31.8% year-on-year drop seen in July. 

"Belly capacity for international air cargo was 67% below the levels of August 2019 owing to the withdrawal of passenger services amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This was partially offset by a 28.1% increase in dedicated freighter capacity," IATA said.

It noted that daily widebody freighter utilization is close to 11 hours per day, the highest levels since these figures have been tracked in 2012. 

Cargo demand increasing 

“Air cargo demand improved by 1.8 percentage points in August compared to July. That’s still down 12.6% on previous year levels and well below the 5.1% improvement in the manufacturing PMI. Improvement is being stalled by capacity constraints as large parts of the passenger fleet, which normally carries 50% of all cargo, remain grounded," said  Alexandre de Juniac, IATA's Director General and CEO.

“The peak season for air cargo will start in the coming weeks, but with severe capacity constraints shippers may look to alternatives such as ocean and rail to keep the global economy moving,” he added.

August Regional Performance

IATA reported that airlines in the Asia Pacific, in North America, in Europe and Latin America declined while Middle Eastern and African carriers saw a slight improvement for the month.

• Asia-Pacific airlines saw demand for international air cargo fall 18.3% in August compared to a year ago. IATA said international capacity is particularly constrained in the region, down 35%. 
  
  
• North American carriers saw demand fell 4% compared to the previous year— the third consecutive month with a single-digit decline. IATA said this steady performance is due in part to strong domestic and transpacific demand on the Asia-North America route, reflecting e-commerce demand for products manufactured in Asia. International capacity dropped by 28.2%.
  
  
• European carriers reported a decrease in demand of 19.3% year-on-year. IATA said demand on most key trade lanes to/from the region "remained weak." International capacity was also down by 33.5%. 
  
  
• Middle Eastern carriers saw a decline of 6.8% in year-on-year international cargo volumes in August, a significant improvement from the 15.1% fall in July. IATA said regional airlines have aggressively added capacity in the last few months with international capacity improving resilient of all regions.
  
  
• Latin American carriers recorded a steady demand of -26.1% for August compared to the previous year. IATA said demand on trade routes between Central America and North America have compensated for weakness on other routes. Capacity remains significantly constrained in the region with international capacity decreasing 38.5%.
  
  
• African airlines saw demand increase by 1% in August, marking the fourth consecutive month in which the region posted the strongest increase in international demand. African airlines were also the only instance of year-on-year growth among all regions in international volumes.