Air Freight News
Below are links to stories relating to air freight
Blow for Kent International Airport as BA Cargo stays at Stansted
Speculation that British Airways World Cargo would leave Stansted to operate from Kent International Airport at Manston is finally over. British Airways World Cargo had decided to stay at Stansted. The airport chief executive, Matt Clarke, said the airport is committed to attracting further freight operators and ensuring the return of scheduled passenger services to a range of destinations in line with the draft master plan. (Kent Online)
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Air freight market hits rock bottom
The double-whammy of high inventory levels and low sales that has had such a disastrous impact on air freight traffic may start to ease. Brian Pearce, chief economist at Iata, said the current slump is worse even than that in the oil crisis of the 1970s. There has been a 25% decline air freight over the last 5 months. Once manufacturers get stocks down to levels they are comfortable with, then demand just depends on consumer demand. (IFW)
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Delhi metro carriage delivered by air
The first of 424 Bombardier metro cars [ = carriage] for Delhi arrived in India onboard an Antonov Airlines AN-124-100M high capacity freight aircraft on February 26. The 45 tonne, 22 ·5 m long and 3 ·2 m wide metro car had been moved by road from Bombardier's Görlitz plant in eastern Germany to Parchim airport the previous day. (Railway Gazette)
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Air Freight Slide Deepens in January
The global downturn in air freight sped up in January, with collapsing Asia-Pacific trade pushing international airline traffic down a record 23.2%. The drop reported by IATA outpaced the 22.6% drop in December and the declines after the September 11 attacks in 2001. All regions showed sharp declines. Asia, including China, showed a 28.1% fall in traffic (in freight metric-ton kilometers). Europe showed a 23% decline in international air freight.(ACW)
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Economic Gloom Continues in January international air freight
IATA figures show a collapse in cargo markets in January 2009 with a 23.2% year-on-year demand drop. This is the 8th consecutive month of contraction for freight traffic. Bisignani said "Alarm bells are ringing everywhere. Every region’s carriers are reporting big drops in cargo." Asia Pacific carriers, representing 43% of the market, led the cargo decline with a 28.1% year-on-year drop. European carriers dropped by -23.0% and North American by -19.3%. (IATA)
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US Jet Fuel Consumption Fell 5.3% in 2008 (air freight)
U.S. airlines burned 5.3% fuel in 2008 and paid considerably less for it, compared with the previous year. In the course of the year, airlines burned 18.83 billion gallons of jet fuel. Declining fuel usage began in January with a tiny drop, and declines were small until a 5.7% slump in August, followed by double-digit dives every month through the end of the year. (Air Cargo World)
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Air freight drops as global trade siezes up – BAA figures
BAA said the number of tonnes of air cargo declined by 15.9% in January, on top of a 15.1% fall in December. Also that cargo volumes are dropping at all UK airports as a "direct result of the global economic downturn". It said freight volumes in the whole of 2008 were down 1.4% compared to 2007, largely due the sustained drop at the end of the year. Passenger traffic at BAA airports in January also dropped 6.3% to 9.4 million. (Telegraph)
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Air cargo trade suffers “unprecedented” decline – BAWC
An "unprecedented" decline in air freight market conditions since November has yet to level out, according to BA World Cargo. It reported a "marked and growing deterioration in market conditions" that began during the final quarter of 2008. Commercial revenue for the quarter was down 4.7% after the effects of exchange rate movements are removed. Volumes in the quarter were down 8.4% versus 2007, and prices were falling due to excess capacity. (IFW)
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Demand for curbs on night flights – East Midlands Airport
A petition by DEMAND to 10 Downing Street, demanding tighter restrictions on night flights from East Midlands Airport now has 590 signatures. EMA has a planning application to carry out modest lengthening of the runway ends. EMA maintain that there will be no change in noise, etc. The Council determination for the runway is the 3rd of March 2009. It appears that the western end of the runway will allow ingress of Very Large Aircraft. (DEMAND)
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‘Unprecedented’ fall in air cargo
The global economic downturn has deeply reduced the amount of freight carried around the world by aircraft, says IATA. Air cargo go into "freefall" in December, with a year-on-year fall of 22.6% in traffic. The "unprecedented" figure is worse than the 14% drop after the 9/11 terror attacks on New York. In 2008 air cargo traffic fell 4% compared with a 4.3% increase in 2007 - the first anual fall since 2001. IATA expects a 5% decline in air freight in 2009.