Air cargo tonnages experienced a sharp decline in Week 33 (August 12. to 18.), dropping by 7% compared to the previous week. The decrease was particularly steep from Asia Pacific (9%) and Europe (11%) origins. A detailed analysis, based on over 450,000 weekly transactions covered by WorldACD’s data, reveals that nearly 70% of the decline from Asia Pacific (6 percentage points out of the 9%) can be attributed to a 47% drop in cargo tonnages from Japan, where a typhoon led to widespread flight cancellations to and from the island nation. Flights to and from South Korea were also affected, though to a lesser degree.
Similarly, the 11% decline from Europe is largely due to a fall in tonnages flown from countries where the August 15, holiday ‘The Assumption’, was widely observed, particularly in France, Italy and Spain, as well as parts of Germany and Belgium. These holiday-related reductions account for around 80% of the European decline (9 percentage points out of the 11%).
Adjusting for these factors, and assuming the reductions can be fully attributed to the typhoon and holiday, the remaining global reduction in tonnages would be limited to 2% week-on-week (WoW), instead of the reported 7%. This adjusted figure aligns with a slight underlying global weakening trend this month, compared with July’s relatively strong performance.
Despite the week-on-week drop, global tonnages were still up by 9% compared to the same period last year, with year-on-year (YoY) increases from both Asia Pacific (10%) and Europe (8%) origins.