Rates are steadily increasing after the summer, continuing their upward trend.
In the current fourth quarter, global air cargo demand has outpaced the tonnages recorded during the same period last year, accompanied by a gradual rise in average rates post-summer, as reported by the latest weekly data from WorldACD Market Data.
Despite being well into the traditionally bustling final quarter, there are limited indications of a robust peak season. Demand patterns mirror last year’s lackluster Q4, with only modest gains in overall tonnage.
Essentially, the improvement from last year reflects the unusually low demand levels during Q4 in the previous year, while this year’s demand has demonstrated slightly better resilience.
A notable difference compared to last year is the recovery of tonnages originating from the Asia Pacific region, contrasting with last winter’s soft ex-Asia volumes. However, tonnages from North America and Europe remain down year on year.
Weekly analysis reveals that worldwide tonnages have remained relatively stable since mid-October. Preliminary figures for week 46 (13 to 19 November) indicate consistent tonnages compared to the previous week and a 3% increase in global average rates based on WorldACD’s data covering over 400,000 weekly transactions.