Q4 air cargo demand exceeds last year’s levels: WorldACD

Global air cargo demand in the fourth quarter (Q4) period so far has been stronger than tonnages in the equivalent period last year, and average rates have continued their gradual post-summer rise, according to the latest weekly figures from WorldACD Market Data.

“Nevertheless, more than halfway through the market’s traditionally buoyant final quarter, there are few signs of a strong peak season with demand patterns so far broadly mirroring last year’s disappointing Q4 and only moderately ahead in overall tonnage terms.”

The improvement compared with last year is more a reflection of the unusually soft demand in Q4 last year while it has held up slightly better this year. “One big difference compared with last year is a recovery of tonnages ex-Asia Pacific compared with last winter’s soft ex-Asia volumes while tonnages ex-North America and ex-Europe remain down year on year.”