Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, parent of Atlas Air and Polar Air Cargo, reported second-quarter net profit of US$11.3 million, a more-than-sevenfold increase over a $1.5 million profit in the same period a year earlier despite revenue plummeting nearly 45 per cent to $240 million. Expenses fell 49.6 per cent to $214.5 million, producing an operating income of $25.5 million, nearly double last year’s $13.3 million.

President and CEO William Flynn noted that the strong result was achieved despite “a difficult demand environment” in which worldwide air cargo traffic dropped by around 18 per cent. He added that the company will likely report positive results for the full year owing to its “very resilient business model” that includes Polar operating as a DHL Express airline.

Flynn noted that global airfreight traffic in the past few months is showing some signs of “incremental improvement.” He cautioned, however, that there is still an imbalance between traffic and capacity which continues to put pressure on yields.

“We are somewhat encouraged, however, by the rate of reduction of wide-body freight capacity that we see in the Asia-Pacific region,” Flynn said. “As the decline in airfreight demand has moderated in recent months, the rate of capacity reduction in this key airfreight market has begun to approach the rate of reduction in demand. Given continuing reductions in capacity, any improvement in demand could have an early and meaningful impact on Atlas.”