Global air cargo tonnages in June show a continuation of the improving year-over-year trend seen since May, characterized by a slowing rate of decline, according to the latest weekly figures from WorldACD Market Data.

Air cargo tonnages for the full month of June ended at -4% compared to the previous year, an improvement compared to May at -6% (year-on-year), while April was still at -10% (YoY).

WorldACD said average rates stabilized throughout June at around -38% compared to the previous year.

Figures for week 26 (June 26 to July 2) show a similar drop in tonnages (-4%) and a slight increase in average worldwide air cargo prices, week on week (week-on-week), based on the more than 400,000 weekly transactions covered by WorldACD's data.

It added that comparing weeks 25 and 26 with the preceding two weeks (2Wo2W), overall tonnages decreased by -3% versus their combined total in weeks 23 and 24, with capacity up +1% and average worldwide rates stable.

At a regional level, strong drops were recorded ex-Europe to Middle East & South Asia (-14%), between the Middle East & South Asia and Asia Pacific (westbound -5%, eastbound -9%), and between Africa and Europe (northbound -11%, southbound -5%), partly related to the Eid al-Adha holiday at the end of June.

Furthermore, notable changes were a drop ex-Asia Pacific to North America (-6%) and a jump in the other direction, ex-North America to Asia Pacific (+10%). 

On the pricing side, the air cargo market data provider said average rates remained stable on a regional level, on a 2Wo2W basis, with two notable exceptions: on flows ex-Middle East & South Asia to Asia Pacific (-10%) and ex-North America to Asia Pacific (-5%).

Freight volume, rates down year-on-year

Comparing the overall global market with this time last year, WorldACD noted that chargeable weight in weeks 25 and 26 were down -7% compared with the equivalent period last year, mainly driven by decreases in tonnages ex-North America (-13%), ex-Europe (-11%) and ex-Asia Pacific (-5%).

It said that the only increase was recorded ex-Central & South America (+3%).

On the other hand, overall capacity has increased by +11% compared with last year, with capacity ex-Asia Pacific up by a noteworthy +30%.

The report said other double-digit YoY percentage increases include traffic from Middle East & South Asia (+15%) and Africa (+13%), while a strong reduction was observed from Central & South America (-8%).

Worldwide average rates are currently -38% below their levels this time last year, at an average of US$2.39 per kilo in week 26, although they remain significantly above pre-Covid levels (+35% compared to June 2019).