Are the lemmings about to jump off of the cliff again

TRAFFIC volumes have continued to rise in the early part of 2010 and cargo airline executives are at last smiling. At Lufthansa Cargo’s annual press conference on 18 March, chief executive Carsten Spohr, revealed that the airlines volumes had grown over 20 per cent year-on-year in both January and February and talks with customers allowed the airline to tentatively predict a double digit growth for 2010 as a whole.

Yet already there are tentative signs that the rates and yield recovery and reduction of the rampant overcapacity that caused such harm in 2009, could partially return as airlines prematurely race each other to add capacity back into the market.

Lufthansa Cargo revealed that it is preparing two aircraft (one at two weeks notice and one at three months), for return to the fleet from the desert. This, alongside the addition of four more AeroLogic B777Fs during the year, represents a potential notable increase in capacity.

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