Air Cargo Carriers News

Cargolux’s net profit surged in 2015, helped by cheaper fuel, but revenue shrank as low yields offset higher volumes.

Lufthansa Cargo remained in the black for yet another year in 2015, overcoming the damaging impact of a pilots’ strike and growing oversupply in the global air freight market, while its main European rivals sank deeper into the red.

In a long-awaited deal, Amazon announced Wednesday it has acquired a stake in the Ohio company that has been helping the e-commerce giant run its secret air cargo operation in the state since last year and has signed a five- to seven-year lease for 20 cargo planes.

Cathay Pacific’s 90 percent increase in 2015 net profit had no help from its cargo division, which after a solid first quarter saw demand for air freight largely fade away for the rest of the year.

International Airlines Group carried less cargo in 2015 than a year earlier but its freight revenue grew as it focused on strategic partnerships and premium products to offset lower rates and yields in bearish global market.

The enormous growth in China’s e-commerce market has driven up demand for domestic air express services and encouraged Boeing Co. to offer freighter conversions for its popular B737 passenger plane.

Air France-KLM narrowed its cargo loss in the fourth quarter of 2015 but its full-year deficit increased as it continued to scale back its troubled full-freighter operation.

AirBridgeCargo began 2016 on a roll with volume soaring by a record 30 percent in January, but Russia’s largest air cargo carrier cautioned it faces challenges as it expands its global network.

Capacity cuts and a pre-Chinese New Year demand for air cargo on key routes barely managed to keep Cathay Pacific’s January volumes in positive territory.

Air India and Air New Zealand are the last two defendants in a long-running antitrust litigation brought against nearly 30 providers of air cargo services, but a nasty surprise could be in store for the carriers in a trial scheduled for September.

Another multimillion-dollar settlement was reached in the long-running antitrust class action lawsuit in the U.S. that has involved most of the world’s major carriers, with Air China agreeing to pay $50 million.

Global air cargo traffic increased 2.2 percent year-over-year in 2015, less than half the 5 percent rise in 2014, due mainly to sluggish trade growth in Europe and Asia-Pacific, according to the International Air Transport Association.

ANA Holdings Inc. and Japan Airlines Corp. both saw their group net profits soar in the first nine months of the fiscal year ending March 31 on a year-over-year basis, despite lower cargo revenues.

Cargolux bucked the downward trend in Europe’s air cargo market, boosting traffic by 7.4 percent in 2015 and unveiling plans to increase its freighter fleet.

Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings’ plan to acquire competitor Southern Air Holdings will diversify the air cargo carriers’ fleet, strengthen its relationship with its biggest customer, DHL Express, and position it to grow in the U.S. and globally, according to a BB&T analyst.

Cargolux is to invest $77 million in Cargolux China, a new joint venture carrier, scheduled to start operations in 2017.

Cathay Pacific and sister carrier Dragonair handled just short of 1.8 million tons of air cargo in 2015, recording growth of 4.3 percent despite a difficult year for the air freight industry as it struggled to balance capacity supply and demand.

Lufthansa Cargo retained its top ranking among Europe’s cargo airlines in 2015 even as traffic shrank 2.4 percent from the previous year and two more freighters are being taken out of service.

The decline in global air cargo demand “may be bottoming out”, following a month-on-month increase in November traffic, according to the International Air Transportation Association.

The International Air Transport Association will urge member airlines to prepare for a possible surge in air freight volumes caused by possible disruptions when the new container weighing requirements are implemented globally from July.

Polar Air Cargo will pay customers $100 million after settling an on-going antitrust class action lawsuit that has drawn in most of the world’s major carriers and so far generated more than $1.1 billion in settlements.

Qatar Airways has taken delivery of two new freighters, expanding its all-cargo fleet to 16 aircraft and consolidating its position as the world’s third-largest international air freight carrier.

Air France’s troubled cargo unit faces further disruption as unions have called for five days of strikes across the carrier in January.

China Airlines, Yang Ming Line and Chungwa Post, Taiwan’s national postal service will cooperate on sea and air freight services to better compete in the booming e-commerce market in Asia.

Qatar Airways Cargo is launching a new freighter route to Dallas/Fort Worth from Liege in the new year that the carrier says will be the start of a major expansion of its network and fleet through 2016.

Russia’s AirBridgeCargo Airlines pulled further ahead of its struggling Europe rivals, with traffic soaring 27 percent in November from a year ago despite the deepening economic crisis in its domestic market.

Cargolux has agreed to a new labor contract with its pilots, removing the threat of a strike at Europe’s largest all-cargo airline.

A European Union court today overturned 790 million euros ($861 million) in fines against 11 airlines, including Air France-KLM and British Airways, for participating in a global cartel that fixed air freight rates.

Hong Kong’s airport and its leading airline saw their hopes for a strong air freight finish to the year dashed as November figures fell back into negative growth that has gripped the world’s busiest airport for most of the year.

Lufthansa and United Airlines plan to expand their current passenger partnership to cargo operations between Europe and the U.S.

The ban of belly cargo on Egypt Air passenger flights to North America is creating chaos in Egypt’s textiles and cottons sector, which has made up 45 percent of the country’s exports to the U.S. this year.

Cathay Pacific has agreed to pay $4.4 million to settle litigation in Canada in a cargo anti-trust class action in which the carrier was a defendant.

Six Volga-Dnepr crew members were among the 22 people killed in a terrorist raid on a hotel in the Mali capital of Bamako on Nov. 20, the Russian heavy-lift airline has announced.

Indonesia’s Minister of Transport threw down the gauntlet to domestic air carriers, warning that if they were not able to add international routes he would offer them to foreign airlines that were knocking at the door.

Air France-KLM’s cargo losses narrowed in the third quarter but revenue and traffic shrank as the carrier slashed its full-freighter capacity in a bid to return to the black.

Lufthansa Cargo is heading for its first annual loss in six years after Europe’s largest freight airline sank into the red for the second consecutive quarter.

Qatar Airways unveiled plans to build a new cargo terminal at its global hub at Hamad International Airport in Doha to keep pace with its “phenomenal” traffic growth.

All Nippon Airways Co.’s efforts to capture cargo normally moving through West Coast ports that was delayed because of congestion weren’t enough to offset weak demand from Europe and North America to Japan.

Russia’s AirBridgeCargo Airlines continues to outperform its European rivals with traffic soaring 28 percent in September despite the steep slump in its domestic economy.

Russia’s AirBridgeCargo Airlines is pulling further ahead of its troubled European rivals as it continues to post double digit increases in traffic month after month.