According to a report by Transport Intelligence, throughout the month of June and half way through July, the air cargo industry has shown signs of stability. Frankfurt‘s "Fraport" and Hong Kong‘s "HACTL", two of the world‘s leading air cargo carriers, have released figures that indicate that the fall in cargo transportation is slowing down. The stabilization is attributed to the slight increase in passenger volume typical of the season.

Air France-KLM has cut its air cargo capacity by 11 per cent following a sharp drop in air cargo traffic in its fourth quarter. This resulted in an operating loss of 129 million euros in the full year up to March 31st, compared to a profit of 1.4 billion euros the year before.

A 9.4% increase in sales revenue (which amounts to £673 million) in the period between April 2008 and March 2009 was reported by British Airways World cargo. The first half of the year was characterized by a high demand for air cargo services, while the second half of the year was characterized by low demand due to the global financial crisis, said Sean Doyle, a financial controller with the company.

Singapore Airlines have also reported stabilization in air cargo carriage. That said, predictions are that air cargo performance is to remain challenging due to excess capacity in the market.

The China-based Universal Travel Group announced that it would be selling Shenzhen Speedy Dragon Enterprise Limited ("SSD") an air cargo logistics company which was acquired back in 2007. Universal Travel Group has shown interest in focusing on business segments with higher profit margins. 

Cargo B, the Belgian air cargo carrier, is shutting down. This is, in most part, due to the global financial situation but is also a result of lack of funding by the Japanese NYK group. Established in 2007 and focusing on air cargo services to Africa and South America, analysts predicted it would do well. The decreasing demand, however, has failed to meet capacity, leading to the carrier‘s shutdown.

Air Cargo trends for 2009 Q1 

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