The low season for freight transport was short-lived. In addition to the improvement over last year, airlines quickly reduced capacity to meet declining summer demand. Although transport capacity increased by 29% in 2021 compared to 2020, it remains at -18% globally compared to 2019.
Keep in mind that at present the resumption of intercontinental flights is uncertain. The industry consensus since the start of the crisis speaks of 2023. So no improvement is in sight on prices or capacity before that period.
In addition to this, air freight is still facing several challenges, here are the two main ones:
- Maritime crisis, postponing a lot of air volumes, mainly from Asia.
- Staff issues and COVID measures at airports, causing delays or unloaded goods.