Air cargo yields suffer in April

Air cargo carriers continued to see yields decline in April, despite worldwide volumes increasing by 3.3% during the month compared with a year earlier.
The latest figures from analyst WorldACD show April yields measured in US dollars have dropped by 11% compared with the start of the year.
However, if surcharges are excluded from the figures, yields were up by 1.4% in April compared with a year earlier.
In terms of volumes, Europe was the fastest growing origin in percentage terms, registering a year-on-year increase of 4.1%, while North America was the best performing destination with an increase of 12.6% on a year ago.
Over the first four months of the year, volumes increase by 4%, meaning the April growth of 3.3% was lower than the average so far.
WorldACD said this could be explained by regular seasonal patterns.
The analyst said: “European carriers as a group lost ground in all origin areas except Asia Pacific, where they grew modestly.
“The representatives from North America did better than average everywhere but in their home market, whilst Asia Pacific carriers, which recorded a 7% increase, and their Middle Eastern counterparts, which saw a 9% increase, continued to outpace their competitors from other parts of the world.
“The origin Latin America was the only one contracting in volume, by 3%. North American carriers showed impressive growth in pharma at 26%, whilst carriers from Africa and the Middle East recorded remarkable growth in perishables at 13%.”
The analyst said that the first four months of 2015 had been a good period for general sales agents (GSAs), as they has strengthened their position in air cargo.
“More than 20% of worldwide revenues were generated through sales under GSA-agreements. GSA’s showed a higher than average volume growth coupled with less yield loss.
“In volume growth, GSA-generated sales outperformed other sales in all areas except Africa and Latin America, with the best relative performance seen in Asia Pacific, followed by North America and Middle East and South Asia.
“The top-GSA’s in Europe and North America improved by a higher percentage than their competitors.”

Source: WorldACD