Reto Hunziker, Group Cargo Director
“Markets, especially China and HKG, further declined during this week to both the US and EU. As a result of this the rates more or less dropped to half, compared to the last weeks. Most of the carriers have availability again and are actively selling. There is also a shift of PPE cargo export from China into Vietnam and most of the shipments are now originating ex SGN or HAN. We are seeing an increased demand of PPE cargo to South America, and expect the same for Africa in the coming weeks. Most of this cargo will fly on freighters but also on PAX-cargo-only-flights since the volumes are not as big as they were into the US and EU.
Now we are starting to see more and more “non-Covid” cargo requests again which is an indicator that most of the production is ramping up again, especially in the US and in Europe. We expect the next two to three weeks to be challenging with a lesser demand since there is reduction in PPE cargo available, and the re-start of manufacturing businesses will take a while. This intermediate period will drive rates down since there is plenty of capacity available.
As freighters will become more available again and the airlines are slowly reinstating their PAX services we expect that the PAX-cargo-only-flights will disappear slowly but surely. The converted PAX aircrafts with removed seats will stay for a while since this is a good option for smaller PPE shipments outside the big trade lanes. There will still be PPE shipments for the reminder of the year, however this will be much less compared to what we experienced during the last two months and most of these shipments will fly on freighters, converted PAX aircrafts and on regular re-instated scheduled PAX flights.
Moving on we see a steady or increased demand for the reminder of the year. Consumer spend will drive demand up a bit which is what normally happens during Q3 and especially Q4. It will then be interesting to see how Covid will continue for the rest of the year. This can have a major influence for the rest of the year in both a very positive but also negative way.”
About Chapman Freeborn:
The Chapman Freeborn group was established in the UK in 1973. The company has offices worldwide including North America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. In the cargo market, Chapman Freeborn Airchartering specialises in the charter and lease of aircraft for a wide-ranging customer base, including freight forwarders, multinational corporations, governments, humanitarian agencies and a host of industries around the globe. In addition to freight services, Chapman Freeborn offers specialist passenger services including private jet charters for executive travel and large aircraft for crew rotations and international group travel.
Chapman Freeborn is a family member of Avia Solutions Group, the largest aerospace business group from Central & Eastern Europe with 83 offices and production stations providing aviation services and solutions worldwide.