There air freight request keep on fall in June 2023but the contraction is lowest year over year since February 2022, according to theInternational Air Transport Association (IATA).
There global demand, measured in freight tonne-kilometres (CTK), fell by 3.4% in June compared to June 2022 (-3.7% for international operations). Over the first half of the year, it fell by 8.1% compared to the period January-June 2022 (-8.7% for international operations). However, demand in June was only 2.4% lower than pre-pandemic levels in June 2019.
There global capacity, measured by available freight tonne-kilometres (ACTK), increased by 9.7% compared to June 2022, a slower pace compared to the double-digit growth recorded between March and May. ” This reflects the strategic capacity adjustments airlines are making in a weakened demand environment. », Considers the IATA in its monthly report. Capacity in the first half of 2023 increased by 9.9% compared to a year ago. Capacity is now 3.7% higher than June 2019 levels.
According to IATA, the main factors influencing air cargo demand include:
-In June, the PMI for manufacturing production and that for new export orders were below the critical threshold represented by the 50 mark, indicating a decline in global manufacturing production and exports.
-Global cross-border trade fell 2.4% year-on-year in May, reflecting slowing demand and challenging macroeconomic conditions. The gap between the annual growth rates of air cargo and world merchandise trade narrowed to -2.6 percentage points in May, which represents the smallest gap since January 2022. However, the gap still suggests that air freight continues to suffer more than containerized freight from the global trade slowdown.
“We remain hopeful that the difficult trading conditions for air cargo will ease as inflation eases in major economies. This, in turn, could encourage central banks to loosen the money supply, which could stimulate greater economic activity. said Willie Walsh, Director General of IATA.
The full June global airfreight report is available on the IATA website.
