Freighter capacity divides air cargo fortunes as rates climb

Access – or not – to freighter capacity is helping shape air cargo’s fortunes. IAG Cargo, which shed its freighter operations more than a decade ago, lost traffic following cancelled services, while asset-heavy DHL reported double-digit volume growth.

But rising rates do not necessarily signal a late peak-season surge, according to new analysis from Xeneta.

Global demand increased 6% year on year in October, while capacity remained flat, Xeneta reported today. Its dynamic load factor, of both cargo weight and volume, rose two percentage points, to 63%.

Nevertheless, chief airfreight officer Niall van de Wouw said there were few signs of a sudden increase in capacity pressure or charter prices that would indicate an acceleration in demand.

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