WorldACD reported global airfreight volume in April increased by 3.3 per cent year-over-year (YoY), slightly lower than the growth in Q1, with the origin Europe (4.1 per cent) and the destination North America (12.6 per cent) as the best performing areas. Yields continued to drop: measured in USD, they have now lost almost 11 per cent of their early 2014-values. Excluding surcharges, however, yields in USD increased by 1.4 per cent YoY during the first four months of 2015.
In line with regular seasonal patterns, worldwide volumes in April were almost 6 per cent lower than in March. The notable exception was the origin Asia-Pacific, where volumes remained the same month-over-month (MoM). This can be partly explained by the fact that volumes and yields across the Pacific did not yet return to normalcy, as YoY-figures continued to be far better than the worldwide averages. Yields measured in USD fell by 4 per cent worldwide compared to March, but held their own in the origin North America.
The first four months of the year saw a YoY volume growth of almost 4 per cent worldwide. 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 (+7 per cent) and their Middle Eastern counterparts (+9 per cent) continued to outpace their competitors from other parts of the world. The origin Latin America was the only one contracting in volume (-3 per cent). North American carriers showed impressive growth in pharma (+26 per cent), whilst carriers from Africa and the Middle East recorded remarkable growth in perishables (+13 per cent).
Looking at distribution, WorldACD finds a rather stable picture. Of the world’s top-20 forwarders in the first four months of 2014, 19 still claimed that position in 2015. As a group, they lost some ground as they saw their combined share of worldwide revenues diminish from 45.1 per cent tot 44.4 per cent YoY: the elite group’s yield suffered slightly more (-12 per cent) than the worldwide yield of the smaller forwarders (-10 per cent). Only six of the top-20 forwarders realised a revenue increase. Not surprisingly, three of these are based in Japan, the best performing of the larger countries in terms of YoY-revenue increase.
General sales agents (GSAs) as a group further strengthened their position in air cargo: more than 20 per cent 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 & South Asia. The top GSAs in Europe and North America improved by a higher percentage than their competitors.
