Global air freight volumes declined once again in September, with a 3.3 per cent drop ininternational traffic and a 4.4 per cent decline in domestic tonnes, resulting in a 3.7 per cent
drop overall, according to figures published this week by Airports Council International (ACI).The figures broadly mirror those of IATA member airlines, which recorded a 2.7 per centyear-on-year contraction for September, a further deterioration from the 2.4 per cent declinerecorded in August.
Year-to-date figures from ACI show volumes as an overall average were flat during the firstnine months, with a 0.2 per cent increase in international and a 0.6 per cent decline in domesticair cargo traffic. Global air freight volumes have been declining year-on-year since May, followinggrowth averaging around 3 per cent in the first four months of the year.
ACI said the September figures reflected an overall decline observed in global freightvolumes for much of the developed world. North America has witnessed the sharpest decline, dropping6.3 per cent, although this was a combination of economic and environmental factors that affectedmany American airports, particularly along the eastern seaboard. For instance, port airports suchas Newark experienced a decline of 16.1 per cent, due in large part to Hurricane Irene.
For the North American region as a whole, international and domestic freight traffic declinedby 6.6 per cent and 6.2 per cent respectively.
Export-intensive regions such as Asia-Pacific also witnessed a decline, with volumes dropping3.2 per cent, including at the major airports in China that have been the source of such consistentstrong growth over the last 10 years. Shanghai’s two airports, Hongqiao and Pudong, were down by8.3 per cent and 7.3 per cent respectively, while Hong Kong saw a decline of 6.1 per cent.Double-digit declines were also observed in Japanese airports such as Nagoya, down 13.2 per cent,and Osaka, where volumes at Kansai were down by 10 per cent, and at Itami by 11.7 per cent.
Europe’s freight traffic also suffered, dropping 2.5 per cent, mainly due to a decline ininternational demand. Amsterdam, Frankfurt, and London Heathrow all saw declines in internationaltraffic, of 6 per cent, 5.7 per cent and 3.7 per cent, respectively.
The Middle East saw declines of 1.5 per cent, while Latin America and the Caribbean had flatgrowth for the month of September. Africa continues to show the greatest volatility inmonth-to-month growth patterns. Apparently unaffected by the declines in other regions, Africaposted gains of 16.9 per cent in air freight volumes in September. This was partly driven by stronggrowth at Johannesburg, where international freight rose by 19.5 per cent.
ACI World’s economics director Rafael Echevarne commented: “While passenger growth continuesto weather the storm of economic uncertainty, global freight traffic appears to be less enduring.As major economies wait for the outcome of sovereign debt issues to unravel, particularly in theEurozone area, international trade in air freight appears to be on the side-lines. If theuncertainty persists into the last quarter of 2011, we are likely to see growth rates in negativeterritory for freight traffic.”
As reported by CEP-Research last week, global express operators UPS, FedEx and TNT have allresponded to weakening air express demand in the last few months by reducing capacity on certainkey routes, for example from Asia to Europe or to the US, in order to match demand levels, althoughDHL said it was maintaining, and in some lanes increasing, its overall air express capacity fromAsia.
UPS also reported lower Asia-US volumes in its third quarter, which led it to reduce itsairlift capacity out of the region by 10 per cent, although it said its Asia-Europe volumes hadremained positive, and it had seen international growth on shorter, intra-regional trade routes,primarily within Europe and within Asia. In the fourth quarter, UPS expects a recovery in Asiavolumes, driven in particular by new product launches, which, combined with lower capacity, itexpected would also improve freighter utilisation levels.
FedEx reported a similar picture, and said an overall lack of consumer confidence hadnegatively impacted exports out of China and Asia in general. It expected some improvement inyear-on-year growth comparisons in the final quarter of 2011, but it had adjusted its capacity tofit the current levels of demand. DHL said it expected there to be a fourth-quarter peak, but at alower level than in the strong final quarter of 2010.
