Sunnier skies ahead?
Even for the top performers on the Freight 50 list, this has been a relatively flat summer. IAG’s Gunning said he is preparing for this situation of overcapacity and weakening yields to be the “new normal” for the industry. “We have to accept that these are the market conditions that will prevail.”
But others said there is reason to believe a decent peak season is around the corner – probably not as big as 2014’s, but still noticeable.
“We are cautiously optimistic for the rest of 2015,” said Anlatan with Turkish Cargo. “We’re planning to keep going with our stable growth this year,” but added that some global and regional issues have the potential to disrupt economic stability in the region.
At UPS, Stuart Lund, vice president, global forwarding, air capacity and procurement, said capacity is expected to tighten in the period from mid-September through late November, as summertime passenger travel ebbs and belly capacity comes off the market. Also, he said, “increase in demand for freighter capacity will occur as Chinese manufacturing ramps up for the end-of-year retail season in both Europe and North America.”
At Cargolux, Van der Wiede said he was “optimistic for the rest of the year,” with an expected rise in demand to the Middle East. “We’ve had more charters than we’ve ever done before, with extra flights to the U.S. – that’s the cherry on top.”
See Freight 50 rankings by FTK