Read a profile of fallen flag Airborne Express in this FreightWaves Classics article.
Air cargo is a good news, bad news story this year. Shipment volumes are at pre-crisis levels. But cargo is joined at the hip with passenger airlines, which are cutting more flights and struggling to survive.
If you can’t rent an entire cargo plane for yourself, you might have trouble finding space on an aircraft to make an international shipment.
Air cargo flight frequency begins to bounce back in the second half of 2020, exceeding 2019’s airline cargo monthly volumes.
Companies have to spend more time trying to find cargo space for their goods with more than half the global passenger fleet still grounded by the coronavirus. The good news is carriers and logistics companies continue to add services.
Companies that need to move goods by air will need to increase their transportation budgets to get through the fourth quarter as low capacity ignites airfreight prices.
Atlas Air Worldwide’s big cargo planes have been in flying full tilt since the novel coronavirus metastasized in March. Combine that with high rates and you’ll understand why r revenue and profit grew so much in the second quarter.
Airfreight looks like a haven for some ocean shippers that can’t find reliable, affordable transportation, but it probably won’t be that way for long because more businesses will need to move goods by air in the coming months and there aren’t enough planes.
The air freight market appears saner in recent weeks, with less competition among shippers for transport services. But the shape of the recovery is anyone’s guess and a possible demand spike for face masks and surgical gowns could create a hyper-market again.
