Air Cargo Carriers News

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.

Air France KLM Martinair Cargo has signed a partnership agreement with China Southern Cargo spanning the carriers’ global networks.

Cathay Pacific and sister carrier Dragonair reported flat growth in air cargo during August as the Hong Kong-based airlines limp into the slack period before what is hoped will be a last-quarter peak season.

AirBridgeCargo, which has so far outperformed its European rivals this year, has begun operations connecting Moscow to Singapore's Changi Airport.

Perishables and pharmaceuticals — among the most lucrative segments of the air cargo because of the time-sensitive nature of their delivery — are at the forefront of air carrier plans to bolster revenue.

IAG Cargo has indefinitely extended the capacity partnership agreement with Qatar Airways that marked the Anglo-Spanish carrier’s exit from freighter operations a year ago.

Lufthansa Cargo and its affiliate Swiss WorldCargo are introducing a new simplified pricing system for the winter season in response to “the volatility of external cost factors.”

IAG Cargo’s revenue grew 8.8 percent in the second quarter as favorable exchange rate movements offset lower traffic and a flat load factor.

Japan Airlines Corp.’s revenue from cargo operations grew faster than overall revenue in the first quarter of fiscal 2015, helping the carrier’s net profit surge 120.7 percent in the April-June quarter from the same three-month period last year to 32.6 billion yen ($263 million) on a consolidated basis.

Lufthansa Cargo’s five-year winning streak ended abruptly in the second quarter as it slumped to a 68 million euros ($74.8 million) operating loss from a 20 million euro profit a year ago.

ANA Holdings Inc. saw its group net profit more than double year-over-year in the first quarter of fiscal 2015, which started in April, despite weaker revenue from cargo operations.

IAG Cargo and Finnair Cargo have signed an agreement to share space on a freighter service between London Luton and Helsinki airports as the two carriers map out a new strategy following their decision not to operate their own cargo aircraft.

Air France-KLM’s cargo business is sinking deeper into the red as its second-quarter operating loss soared to 78 million euros ($86 million) from 45 million euros a year ago despite desperate cost-cutting measures.

Shippers seeking damages from cargo airlines accused of price-fixing have been granted class-action status, allowing hundreds of thousands of people to seek damages against the airlines.

Lufthansa Cargo’s traffic shrank in June as the German carrier failed to sell all of its extra capacity, pushing its load factor close to a six year low as it braces for more pilot strikes.

China’s three largest cargo airlines will join forces to form the largest air freight carrier in Asia, according to a senior official at the Civil Aviation Administration of China, mainland state media reported.

Global economic uncertainty and a slowing China continues to hang over cargo markets, with air and ocean transportation providers struggling to match capacity to demand while having little visibility going into the second half of 2015.

Any suggestion that freighter aircraft would play a lesser role in the supply chains of the future was firmly put to bed with 29 the number of all-cargo planes ordered from Boeing by the time the Paris Air Show ended this week.

Russian cargo airline Volga-Dnepr signed a memorandum of understanding today to buy and lease twenty Boeing 747-8 freighters with a combined list price of $7.4 billion for its AirBridgeCargo Airline unit.

AirBridgeCargo’s traffic soared 16 percent in the first five months of the year as Russia’s largest all-cargo carrier continued to outperform its struggling European rivals.

EVA Air has committed to purchase five Boeing 777 freighters at a list price of $1.5 billion at the Paris Air Show as the Taiwan carrier finally moves to upgrade its all-cargo fleet that was once the pride of the airline.

Cargo carriers in the U.S. have raised concerns that action by Washington to curb open skies agreements with Middle Eastern carriers over allegations they are subsidised by their governments could become a threat to vital worldwide air freight networks.

Lufthansa Cargo’s traffic dipped 1.4 percent in May as it failed to fill additional capacity, but the German carrier continued to outperform its main European rivals.

Freighter operator Cargolux has launched a new twice-weekly air service between Chicago and Zhengzhou, China.

ANA Holdings and Japan Airlines posted mixed earnings results in the fiscal year ended March 31, even as the two biggest Japanese air carriers saw their international cargo revenues soar.

Air France-KLM Cargo remains mired in the red with the first-quarter operating loss almost doubling to 63 million euros ($70.6 million) from 34 million euros a year ago as the carrier rushes to downsize its unprofitable freighter operations.

IAG Cargo posted lower revenue and reduced volumes in the first quarter as the carrier continued to feel the impact of its exit from freighter operations.

Cargolux’s net profit was squeezed to $3 million in 2014 from $8.4 million in 2013 by a $40 million impairment on its 747-400 freighter fleet and a provision for potential anti-trust fines.

Lufthansa Cargo says it is delaying the construction of a new freight center at its Frankfurt hub “by at least two years.”

Russia’s AirBridgeCargo Airlines boosted freight tonnage by 20 percent in the first quarter as its rapidly expanding international network offset the impact of sanctions and an economic downturn in its domestic market.

Air freight carried by Asian carriers grew by a solid 12.8 percent in the first two months of the year compared to the same period in 2014, according to data from the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA).

Qatar Airways Cargo is launching a freighter service between its Doha hub and Los Angeles International Airport, its fourth all-cargo service to the U.S.

Martinair, Air France-KLM’s all-cargo unit, announced it is laying off 330 employees, including 110 pilots, as it downsizes its freighter fleet in a bid to return to profitability.

The government of Hong Kong has approved the building of a third runway at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA), announcing that it would fund the $18.2 billion expansion through internal funds, external borrowings and higher user fees.

Cathay Pacific and sister carrier Dragonair carried almost 30 percent more cargo in February than during the same month last year as the Hong Kong-based airlines added capacity to cope with the lunar new year surge in demand.

Lufthansa Cargo’s operating profit surged nearly 27 percent in 2014. The German carrier remained in the black for the fifth consecutive year despite a weak global air freight market that has pushed many of its rivals into the red.

There were 221 kilograms of lithium ion batteries in the belly hold of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 that vanished in March last year, according to the first comprehensive report into the disappearance of the Kuala Lumpur-Beijing aircraft.

With the air cargo industry under increasing competition from ocean carriers for certain cargoes, especially perishables, more sophisticated software and technology tools are helping drive the migration from ocean to air.