Global air cargo capacity has begun to stabilise following several weeks of massive declines, but remains 35% below 2019 levels and down by double-digit percentages across all trade lanes – including falls of more than 60% from Europe to North America, Latin America and Africa – according to freight forwarder Agility Logistics.

Based on data from Seabury, the analysis indicates that global widebody belly capacity declined slightly last week but seems to have bottomed out, as Middle Eastern carriers increased their widebody belly capacity last week versus the last week of March, mainly to China, India and Australia. Carriers in other regions continued to shrink their belly capacity, except on select routes where they deployed cargo-only movements on passenger aircraft and flights.

Meanwhile, freighter capacity has been increasing and is now 14% higher than 2019 levels, increasing at most major airports in Asia and the Middle East, while the picture in North America, Europe and Africa is mixed, Seabury indicates. China, Russia, Hong Kong and South Korea have seen the biggest increases; India, Italy, Bangladesh and Ecuador the biggest decreases.

Outbound China freighter capacity increased 45% versus 2019 levels, experiencing big increases on flights headed for the US, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Qatar, Vietnam and Ethiopia.

And utilisation of widebody freighters has also increased, up 16.5% on average since January; B777F and B747-8F freighters have flown 14 hours per day on average so far in April, Agility highlighted.

Yesterday, The Guardian reported that the number of cargo-only flights at London Heathrow has surged to five times normal levels, with the airport now saying it is prioritising medical supplies as passenger travel grinds to a halt. The UK's biggest airport expects passenger traffic to plunge by 90% in April, with remaining flights mainly limited to repatriating citizens stranded abroad during the coronavirus outbreak.

Instead, the hub airport is restyling itself as a “vital airbridge” for supplies and medical essentials during the coronavirus crisis, the newspaper said.

The number of cargo-only flights has jumped significantly. Heathrow’s busiest day for cargo so far was on 31 March, when it handled 38 cargo flights in only one day. The airport usually deals with 47 cargo flights per week.

Source: lloydsloadinglist

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