Air Cargo

The sudden US travel ban imposed on 12 European countries will hurt an air freight industry still battling to overcome the loss of belly cargo capacity from the suspension of passenger flights to China.

The financial hit to airlines in their battle to withstand a rapid drop in cargo and passenger revenue will be enormous, according to the industry trade association IATA.

Difficulties transporting cargo in and out of China and fast-rising air charter rates are pushing shippers and their forwarders towards multimodal services.

The freight rate marketplace provider Freightos will include an option for shippers to add FedEx customs brokerage services on-demand as part of a broader deal between the two companies that also includes FedEx’s use of Freightos’ air cargo pricing and booking tools.

Lufthansa Cargo will offer instant air freight quotes via an application programming interface with digital forwarder Fleet, a company in which the German airline invested in 2018.

With no belly cargo available for flights to China, demand for chartered freighter capacity has risen sharply, along with air freight rates, as relief aid and medical supplies move to the country amid the coronavirus outbreak.

A survey of delivery drivers projects that missed deliveries and time wasted due to outdated and incorrect maps and navigation aids results in $2.5 billion in added costs.

The air cargo business has just reported its worst performance in a decade, and now hopes for a possible recovery in 2020 are in doubt due to China’s coronavirus outbreak.

The first real estimate of the impact the coronavirus will have on China’s container supply chain has been made, and it is significant.

Measures being applied to limit the spread of the coronavirus have led to several global carriers making significant cuts to their China flight schedules.

Space constraints at Amsterdam Schiphol continue to hold back cargo volume growth crucial to the airport’s role as a European gateway.

The congested hub airports in Europe are struggling with rapid growth in flight traffic and a slot allocation system that was devised a quarter of a century ago.

Air cargo may have had a year to forget in 2019, but in Europe it will be remembered as the year seafood exports to Asian markets, especially Norway to China, started to really take off.

Chronic cross-border trucking delays serve as a reminder of how fragile the freight connection between the United States and its largest trading partner continues to be.

After a disappointing peak season in 2019, the outlook for international air freight in 2020 will depend on an acceleration in global trade demand and an easing of tensions between the United States and its trading partners, particularly China.

Long-term contracted volume is crucial for airlines setting budgets and forecasts, but in the face of weak demand and a bleak 2020 outlook, forwarders are reluctant to commit.

No one is expecting much from the air cargo peak shipping period this year, but persistent weakness in the market means any hopes of an upturn before the end of the year are fading fast.

Airlines are beginning to offer the first- and last-mile services that have more commonly been handled by integrators and e-commerce providers.

Adding value to both carrier and shipper will be a key criteria of the forwarding business model over the next decade.

With the traditional peak season period for air cargo already under way, there is still no sign of an increase in demand.

A worsening political situation and escalating protests have forced the cancelation of an important airline gathering in Hong Kong.

The shortage of slots for all-cargo flights cost Amsterdam Schiphol airport heavily in the first nine months of the year.

There are no indications that the turbulence in global air freight markets will end anytime soon amid a continued downturn in trade and an uncertain economic environment.

Forty-seven of the top 50 global transportation providers saw revenues rise in 2018, benefitting from a strong global economic growth and growing anticipation of reciprocal tariffs between the United States and China.

A bigger footprint in El Paso, Texas, will help the freight forwarding arm of Deutsche Post DHL reach more shippers in the US and Mexico.

Global air freight continues to feel the effects of the trade dispute between the US and China, with demand falling for 10 straight months.

Canadian forwarder Manitoulin adds to its US holdings, expanding its global logistics network.

There are dwindling expectations for a solid peak season in air cargo this year as the industry faces falling demand and yields in an uncertain trading environment.

An unexpected increase in air cargo rates from China to Europe appears to be the result of Asian volumes avoiding transshipment through Hong Kong.

Stakeholders are disappointed in the multiple-year delay in building new air cargo facilities at Los Angeles International Airport, but will consider interim solutions to meet the challenge of growing volumes.

The shelving of a new air cargo terminal at Los Angeles International Airport is a blow to forwarders and their cargo owners suffering from delays that the project aimed to relieve.

Shippers worry “unreasonable” air freight fees, tighter cargo screening regulations, and the region’s dependence on transshipment could cause Hong Kong to cede more cargo to air and sea ports in southern China.

Hong Kong in November will start down the road of X-raying all airfreight shipments, which has users worried about the costs -- in both time and money.

Thousands of tons of air cargo face shipping delays after Hong Kong closed its airport Monday due to disruptions caused when anti-government protesters stormed both terminals.

There was little to celebrate at Europe’s main air cargo gateways in the first half of the year amid weak freight handling volumes that show no signs of improving.

Roadrunner Transportation Systems reported revenue and profits were down in the second quarter as it battled weak conditions in the airfreight, truckload, LTL, and intermodal markets.

A dismal June capped a poor first half for the global air cargo industry, which has the lean summer months to get through before any seasonal pick-up in demand can be expected.

A steady deterioration of air cargo markets as global trade slows is troubling the industry with little sign of an improvement.

UPS is targeting cross-border e-commerce sellers with a deferred-delivery shipping product that would cost less than tighter delivery windows, a sign of integrators wanting to tap into forecast growth in international online sales.

The world’s biggest ocean freight forwarder does not see why shippers would feel an urgent need to move cargo before the IMO 2020 low-sulfur fuel mandate kicks in on Jan. 1.