The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released February 2020 data for global air freight markets showing that demand dropped once more as the impact of the coronavirus disease became more evident.

IATA said in a statement that demand, measured in cargo tonne-kilometres, decreased by 1.4% compared to the same period in 2019.

Adjusting the comparison for the impact of the Lunar New Year, which fell in February in 2019, and the leap year in 2020, which meant an additional day of activity, seasonally-adjusted demand was down 9.1% month-on-month in February.

"By February, the negative impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on air cargo demand were becoming visible," IATA said.

The month witnessed several significant developments like widespread factory closures and travel restrictions in China, one of the world’s largest air cargo markets, global export orders fell to a historically low level, and significant cargo capacity was lost as a result of airlines reducing passenger operations in response to government travel restrictions due to COVID-19.

Asia-Pacific was hardest hit

“The spread of COVID-19 intensified over the month of February, and with it, the impact on air cargo. Adjusted demand for air cargo fell by 9.1%. Asia-Pacific carriers were the most affected with a seasonally-adjusted drop of 15.5%," IATA said.

The disruption of global supply chains led to a fall in demand, but the dramatic disruption in passenger traffic resulted in even deeper cuts to cargo capacity as belly-hold was effectively erased.

"We only got the first glimpse of this in February," said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s director general and CEO.

"Among all the uncertainty in this crisis, one thing is clear—air cargo is vital ... that’s why it is critical for governments to remove any blockers as the industry does all it can to keep the global air cargo network functioning in the crisis and ready for the recovery,” he added.

More bleak outlook in the months ahead

Airlines in Europe suffered a sizeable decline in year-on-year growth in total air cargo volumes in February 2020, while North American and Asia-Pacific carriers experienced more moderate falls. The Middle East, Latin America and Africa were the only regions to record growth in air freight demand compared to February 2019.

Asia-Pacific airlines saw demand for air cargo contract by 2.2% year-on-year in February. Seasonally-adjusted cargo demand fell by 15.5% compared to January 2020, to levels last seen in early 2014.

"The drop in demand was largely due to the impact of COVID-19. Capacity decreased 17.7% - the largest fall since early 2013. Cargo capacity in China dropped sharply in February, driven in large part by the collapse of belly-hold capacity," IATA explained.

North American airlines saw demand decrease by 1.8% in February 2020, as capacity increased by 4.1%. 

European airlines posted a 4.1% decrease in cargo demand compared to the same period a year earlier. 

Middle Eastern airlines’ cargo demand increased 4.3% in February as capacity increased by 6.0%. However, IATA noted that given the Middle East’s position connecting trade between China and the rest of the world, the region’s carriers have significant exposure to the impact of COVID-19 in the period ahead. 

Latin American airlines experienced an increase in freight demand in February 2020 of 1.8%, while capacity decreased by 2.6% year-on-year.

IATA said the region was relatively unaffected by the COVID‑19 outbreak in February. However, disrupted global supply chains and a fragile economic backdrop in some countries in the region continue to create headwinds for air cargo.

African carriers posted the fastest growth of any region for the 12th consecutive month in February 2020, with an increase in demand of 6.2% as capacity grew 3.0% year-on-year.