As we draw toward a close of a volatile 2015 that saw airfreight demand skyrocket in the early months only to cool down and stagnate for much of the rest of the year, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) is predicting continued sluggishness for most of 2016, thanks to continued weak growth in world trade, a slowdown in China, falling commodity prices, and an expected interest rate hike in the United States.
At the recent COP21 climate change discussions in Paris, the European airport industry committed to raising the number of carbon-neutral airports in Europe to 50 by the year 2030.
For the sixth month in succession, the Stifel Logistics Confidence Index declined. This trend resulted in the November Index score falling to the lowest registered for three years. The monthly decline registered in airfreight was more moderate than that witnessed in sea freight; the former was down by 0.4 points to 48.9, whilst the latter dropped 2.8 points, amounting to 46.1.
Even before the events in Paris on Friday Nov. 13, unrest in several geographic areas of the world has contributed to major disruption in the supply chain.
U.S.-based lessor and asset manager Aviation Capital Group placed a firm order for fifteen 737-800 passenger-to-freighter conversions with Aeronautical Engineers Inc (AEI), with options for fifteen additional conversions. The announcement was made at the Cargo Facts Aircraft Symposium in Miami.
IATA's global head of cargo, Glyn Hughes, said the logistics business is not keeping up with technology - a sentiment that's been expressed before, but one he said cannot be emphasized enough. Hughes also called for more communication across the airfreight supply chain.
The Stifel Logistics Confidence Index fell into a fifth consecutive month of decline in October. Significantly, the index has now fallen beneath the neutral 50 point mark for the first time since January 2013, with confidence in both the sea freight and airfreight markets plummeting. The Logistics Situation for airfreight was especially bad, declining by 3.2 points to 45.7. The same trends that influenced last month's decline are persisting, with weak emerging market growth, China's financial crisis, and the Chinese shift towards domestic consumption all influencing the trajectory of the index.
American Airlines Cargo has developed a new leasing program for the temperature-controlled unit load device known as CSafe Global RKN. The high-tech units are capable of maintaining a temperature of four to 25 degrees Celsius through long flights and extended hold times.
