Air cargo soars to pre-crisis levels

Freight traffic leaped by 34.3 percent in May, rising above pre-recession levels, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced today.

“Demand rebounded strongly in May following the impact of the European volcanic ash fiasco in April. Passenger traffic is now one percent above pre-recession levels, while the freight market is six percent bigger,” said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s director general and CEO.

Matching capacity to demand will become increasingly challenging in the coming months, he warned. Aircraft utilization remains five percent below pre-recession levels for single-aisle aircraft and eight percent for longer-range twin-aisle aircraft.

The 100 aircraft taken out of storage during May and the 93 new aircraft delivered globally add further capacity pressure.

The strong surge in cargo traffic outstripped a capacity increase of 12.3 percent, pushing load factors to a record high of 55.7 percent.

Strong traffic growth is contributing to a strengthening industry bottom line. Airlines are expected to post a US$2.5 billion profit in 2010 in a dramatic turnaround from the $9.9 billion lost in 2009.

“This is good news, but it is only a 0.5 percent margin. We are still a long way from sustainable profitability,” said Bisignani.

“In the short-term, airlines need to focus our efforts on nurturing the recovery by continuing to match capacity carefully to improving demand conditions. And everybody must control costs. This includes airports, air navigation service providers, global distribution systems and labour. There are no exceptions,” he said.
(Source:www.cargonewsasia.com)