Charter specialist highlights divergent sector performance as aerospace maintains multi-year production cycle demand while automotive drops
Air charter demand for aerospace has remained robust this year, while e-commerce and automotive demand has declined, Chapman Freeborn has reported.
The charter company said that within a market that has rapidly changed this year, demand for aerospace charters had been strong, while demand for energy component charters had remained consistent.
On aerospace demand, Chapman Freeborn said: ”The Aerospace vertical has remained robust, with just-in-time manufacturing and air cargo transport still used extensively for the largest manufacturers. Because this sector works on multi-year production cycles, we have seen its demand for air cargo sustained through the year.”
Demand for energy shipments is also consistent, although it is not particularly high - notably within oil and gas, stated Chapman Freeborn.
"While the oil price is not optimal for profitability for the largest players, this remains a sector that has ongoing requirements for air cargo. When components at a rig or refinery are down, urgent air transportation is needed to get those facilities back online."
Meanwhile, e-commerce, has also dipped following the US's removal of the de mimimis exemption for China and subsequently all countries, as well as shifting tariffs, said Chapman Freeborrn.
Chapman Freeborn said: "The strong demand for flying e-commerce from Asia to the US, one of the largest trade lanes in the world, peaked in Q4 2024, and has tailed off significantly since then."
Although Chapman Freeborn has found charter demand has dipped, research from Aevean highlighted that overall, the e-commerce market showed resilience when volumes moved from China-US to China-Europe, and China-US e-commerce trade flows have now recovered.
Despite there being several verticals supporting steady air cargo charter business in 2025, there has been a "significant decline in air cargo demand in the automotive industry", said Chapman Freeborn, although the company added there may be an opportunity with nearshoring business moves within the Americas.
Chapman Freeborn said: "There has been a drop off in demand for automotive just-in-time manufacturing, with charter work, both narrow-body and wide-body, witnessing noticeable declines.
"We may see some continuation of the trend for nearshoring, and Chapman Freeborn is ready and capable when it comes to providing chartered capacity and non-chartered capacity to meet nearshoring needs within the Americas region. This would typically be with narrow-body aircraft such as 737s, A321s or larger widebody B767s and larger.
