Sea and air freight prices have risen one after another! The peak of air freight in August is coming!

After the fall of Nanjing Lukou Airport, a new round of the epidemic has spread to 17 provinces. At present, the epidemic prevention and control measures related to flights and airport operations have been fully upgraded.

On August 2, the Civil Aviation Administration issued an emergency notice in response to the current severe situation of domestic epidemic prevention and control, as well as the rapid spread of delta variants and the difficulty of prevention and control. And airport prevention and control measures, etc., to further strengthen domestic flights and airport epidemic prevention and control work.

In addition, the Civil Aviation Administration has completed the revision of the "Technical Guidelines for the Prevention and Control of Epidemics in Transport Airports and Transport Airlines" (eighth edition), which will be released in the near future. Specific adjustments are made in the following aspects: first, detailed closure management measures for front-line staff at the airport; second, encrypted civil aviation services to ensure the frequency of nucleic acid testing of various personnel; third, adjustment and optimization of aircrew entry isolation and health monitoring measures; fourth, according to different types of work Operational characteristics, strengthen the labor protection of employees.

Civil aviation administrative agencies at all levels will increase the supervision and inspection of the implementation of technical guidelines by transport airlines and transport airports.

The market also reported that: “From the last flight on August 10, all cargo flights on the European and American routes will be suspended overnight until the end of August.” The news has not yet been confirmed by any official notification, but if this news is true, it will surely cause There is a serious shortage of cargo space on the European and American routes.

In any case, with the upgrade of epidemic prevention and control, the arrival of the peak shipping season ahead of schedule, the continuous soaring of shipping costs, port congestion and uncertain shipping schedules, it is inevitable that air freight prices will rise.

A freight forwarder said that since last week, some airlines have reduced capacity and increased freight prices. The current freight rates from Shanghai to Los Angeles, Chicago and New York have reached 9.60$/kg, 11$/kg and 12$/kg respectively. kg.

Compared with 2019, air freight costs have risen by 90%, but this is far below the soaring rate of ocean freight. Data show that before the outbreak of the new crown epidemic in 2019, the price of air freight was 12 times more expensive than that of sea freight, but it has now shrunk to 6 times.

There is currently no indication that air freight prices will fall, and carriers will receive substantial revenues until 2022.

However, the narrowing of the price gap does not mean that the alternative of air freight is stronger, because the capacity of air freight has also been greatly weakened.

Once 50% of the world's air cargo was transported by "free rides" on passenger planes, but since the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, airlines have reduced their capacity by 50%.

Although there are many airlines "passenger-to-cargo", they still cannot meet the strong demand. The popular cross-border cargo routes of several large domestic airlines are basically fully loaded. It should be noted that due to the rebound of the epidemic situation in many countries such as India, the shipping space of Southeast Asia routes and South Asia routes is particularly tight, and the routes from Guangzhou and Shenzhen to India must be booked a week in advance.

According to data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), due to the continued grounding of passenger aircraft, global air transport capacity is 11.7% lower than the level before the epidemic. According to its latest global air cargo regular report, the global air cargo market in June this year increased by 9.9% compared to before the new crown pneumonia epidemic (June 2019). In the first half of the year, the growth rate of air cargo soared to 8%, setting the strongest first-half performance since 2017 (the industry's annual freight demand increased by 10.2% year-on-year).

Africa and North America are the regions with the strongest growth. Two-thirds of the global growth is driven by North America. Compared with 2019, North America's demand has increased by 24%.

With the arrival of the peak season for European and American purchases ahead of schedule, Flexport, a technology-based freight forwarding company in Silicon Valley in the United States, believes that the peak season for air freight will also begin in August. Flexport believes that “air freight is more affordable than you think. Compared with detention and demurrage, loss of sales and out-of-stock inventory, the cost of air freight is nothing.”

The booming online retail industry is the biggest boost to the development of air transportation. Cross-border e-commerce is especially suitable for air transportation because of its great emphasis on effectiveness.

Air freight is characterized by high added value, fast and efficient cargo, so although freight volume only accounts for 1% of the total global trade, the value of cargo accounts for 35%. Insiders believe that in the next few years, aviation logistics will continue to play a greater role than before the epidemic.

Maersk, the world's largest container shipping company, said it is seeking expansion through its air cargo company Star Air and plans to purchase more freighters. In the first half of this year, the average growth rate of registration of my country's air cargo-related companies has also steadily increased. In the first half of 2021, the average growth rate of registration of my country's air cargo-related companies will exceed 50%.

According to the "Announcement on the Approval of the Establishment of Jiangsu Jingdong Cargo Airlines Co., Ltd." on the official website of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, JD Cargo Airlines has obtained the preliminary approval of the Civil Aviation Administration of East China. This means that JD Airlines is expected to become the third private cargo airline after SF Airlines and YTO Airlines.