It may not come as a surprise, but the saga told in the past months, continues in October: worldwide air cargo volumes dropped 5.0% compared with the same month in 2018. Yield (in USD) decreased with 11%, and revenues from air cargo (in USD) were 16% lower. Of all origin regions, Latin America was hit hardest with a YoY volume decrease of 10%. The only origin region that remained stable was Africa. As destinations all regions contracted – ranging from Latin America (-8%) to the Middle East & South Asia (-1%). The build-up towards the end-of-year peak is not very different from last year: October was 7% higher than September, which is the same MoM growth as in 2018.
Of the Top-20 origin cities in the world, only two showed a YoY volume increase in October, and both are in China: Guangzhou (+16%) and Shanghai (+3%). Some ‘smaller’ origins in the Asia Pacific also recorded positive results: Shenzhen +58%, Zhengzhou +19%, Ho Chi Minh City +7%; and we noted double-digit growth from Perth (+22%).
October 2019 at a glance
- Total Chargeable Weight: -5.0% year-over-year (YoY); +7% month-over-month (MoM).
- General cargo -8.2% YoY, Special cargo +2.7% YoY.
- Direct Ton Kilometers (DTK’s): -5.3%
- Yield stood at USD 1.76 (-11.2% YoY, +2.5% MoM). The yield in EUR stood at 1.60.
- The cargo load factor dropped by 3.6 percentage-points YoY, but increased by 2.2 MoM.
- High-Tech & Other Vulnerable Goods increased by +13% YoY, whilst
- Pharma & Temperature Controlled Goods rose by +8% YoY. Perishables in total declined with -1% YoY: fish & seafood did best (+6% YoY) and flowers did worst (-3%).