Maersk air cargo market update notes Asia-Europe lane as highly affected
Europe outbound is stable and growing slightly, seeing increases across lifestyle, FMCG, and pharma sectors.
Maersk in its October 2022 Europe air freight market update noted that Asia to Europe trade lane is highly affected (-20 percent YTD) "thanks to COVID policies, inflation, capacity reductions and other factors."
"Globally, the Air Freight market continues to be fairly volatile, with volumes trending down but rates remaining higher than 2019 levels due to jet fuel costs, lack of passenger/belly capacity and the impact of the war in Ukraine," it reads.
As inflation in Europe reached an all-time high of 9.1% in August, the spending power of the general population was impacted heavily – with lower sales and higher inventory across many sectors, most prominently retail and manufacturing.
"Elsewhere, flight cancellations due to lack of staff at airports has led to an increasing dependency on cargo aircraft," it reported.
Despite this, Europe outbound is stable and growing slightly, seeing increases across lifestyle, FMCG, and pharma sectors.
The future is uncertain as we move into the winter months. A European energy crisis is imminent according to experts, with the energy and chemical sectors set to be most affected. Russian and Ukrainian airspaces still remain closed and there are no signs on when this will change.
It also says,"Maersk will continue to monitor the situation and use its own controlled air freight network to keep supply chains moving. Although improved ocean freight conditions have reduced Air demand slightly, the need for a reliable alternative is expected to remain high across Europe during peak season."
