The strength of air cargo carriers varies in difficult market
The air freight market may have been depressed in terms of demand over much of 2011 and the first three months of 2012, but airlines have differed in their ability to prosper in the market.
Lufthansa described the year as being "dynamic", with its freight markets split between a growing German and America markets and "cooling" demand in China. Revenue for 2011 was up 5.3% at €2,943m, however profits were down sharply with EBIT (Earnings Before Interest and Tax) 25.6% lower at €244m. Profits were also depressed by higher fuel costs. Although this does represent a sharp fall in profits, 2010 represented a record high and margins remained strong in 2011 at over 9%.
Cathy Pacific also saw increases in revenue, but of a much lower percentage of 0.3% to HK$25,980m. The company managed to increase both yield, which was up by 3.9%, as well as capacity, which increased by 6.9%. Gross tonnage, however, fell by 8.6% to 1.649m tonnes. Obviously, Cathay Pacific is much more exposed to the Chinese market than Lufthansa and suffered accordingly, with both mainland China and Hong Kong demand falling considerably from the first quarter of 2011 onwards.
Last week, Air France-KLM announced more depressed results as the Franco-Dutch airline saw a significant slump. Revenues were down 3.4% to €802m whilst the cargo division only broke even in terms of operating profit compared with €60m in 2010. Again, the combination of static or lower freight revenues combined with higher fuel costs damaged profitability.
All three carriers have moved to either slow or freeze expansion in capacity over the next twelve months, whilst Lufthansa suggested that the issue of low rates had eased as capacity and demand were more in balance, asserting that the market had "returned to normal". However, two threats remain. In certain parts of the market, new entrants have ordered a great-deal of new capacity, mainly in the form of belly-freight with intra-Asian routes seeing particularly high growth. In addition, the price of oil remains an issue of considerable uncertainty.
Quelle: eyefortransport
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