Air cargo/global logistics: Significant rebound seen in Asia-Pacific
Government stimulus packages in major economies are driving production increases and fueling air cargo growth.
Patrick Burnson -- Logistics Management, 10/29/2009
SAN FRANCISCO— Government stimulus packages in major Asia-Pacific economies are driving production increases and fueling air cargo growth.
That’s the good news contained in recent reports released by The International Air Transport Association (IATA) and Association of Asia-Pacific Airlines (AAPA).
“ The region’s banking system is relatively strong and the region’s consumers are not as burdened by debt as those in Europe and the US.,†said spokesmen for IATA in Geneva.
At the same time, however, IATA was sounding a cautionary note:
“It is far too early to call this a recovery,†said said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s director general and CEO. “The worst may be over in terms of the fall in demand, but yields continue to be a disaster and costs are rising. The airline industry remains firmly in the red with a fragile business environment.â€
On a global scale, airlines continue to carefully manage capacity. Seasonally adjusted cargo capacity has edged up only slightly in the last two months. But load factors have risen to pre-crisis levels which should help to correct the precipitous fall in yields.
Meanwhile, Singapore-based AAPA, reported that Asia’s air carriers saw their strongest signs yet of recovery in the air cargo business. Analysts there reported their busiest month in nearly a year in September, noting that furloughed capacity earlier in the summer may have helped keep smaller fleets in the air.
AAPA spokesmen added that stronger cargo demand matched airline efficiency, which had also comes as a consequence of leaner logistics.
Tonnage grows 2.5 percent on annual basis in busiest cargo month of 2009
Further evidence of an air cargo rebound in the Transpacific trade lane was provided by Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), which is reporting its first year-over-year gain in freight traffic in nearly two years in September.
September’s tonnage compares to the month that marked the start of the worst part of the financial crisis, and when LAX’s freight traffic dropped off by almost 18 percent. The tonnage last month was 21.8 percent behind what LAX handled in September 2006.
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