The sharp downturn in the air cargo market from October last year has resulted in British Airways World Cargo’ (BAWC) volumes falling 8.4 per cent over the third quarter of 2008, compared to a year earlier.
A “marked and growing deterioration in market conditions” began during the third quarter of the financial year ending 31 December 2008, said British Airway’s cargo division.
“The turndown in market conditions since November has been unprecedented and we have yet to see it level out,” said Steve Gunning, managing director, BA World Cargo.
“The situation is exacerbated by the ongoing imbalance of available capacity and market demand. The need to protect customer service whilst achieving productivity improvements and cost savings has never been greater.”
BAWC has reported commercial revenue (flown revenue plus fuel surcharges) of £536.6 million for the nine months beginning April 2008. This represents an increase of 18.3 per cent against the same period last year.
Volumes of 3.6 billion cargo tonne kilometres (CTK) for the nine months represent a decrease of 1.6 per cent versus last year. Cargo capacity for the same period was down 3.6 per cent. Overall yield increased by 20 per cent versus last year.
Commercial revenue for the quarter stood at £173.8m, a decrease of 4.7 per cent after the effects of exchange rate movements are removed. Volumes in the quarter were down 8.4 per cent versus the previous year, and overall yield for the third quarter increased by 4.0 per cent when the impact of exchange rates are removed.