Air, Freight News

Air freight recovery falters but prices remain high

[ March 31, 2021   //   Chris ]

The New Year recovery in global air cargo volumes stalled in March as volumes fell 3% over March 2019, says analyst, Clive Data Services. However, reduced airline capacity meant that load factors and prices remained ‘relentlessly high.’ Despite the faltering recovery in demand, the air cargo market is in far better shape than a year ago when the outbreak of the Covid pandemic led to a sudden collapse in global capacity, it says.

Clive managing director Niall van de Wouw, added: “Flights are very full from a cargo point of view, but with no recovery in the passenger market, airline intercontinental operations are still mainly cargo-driven and they need higher prices to make these operations financially viable.”

A comparison of Heathrow-North America airfreight prices for March over February shows an increase of GPB 0.28/kg or 8% in average pricing.

Tags: Clive