Air Cargo Remains Single Bright Spot for Aviation in 2021
Bloomberg 2/24/2021 Siddharth Philip
(Bloomberg) A year after the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic destroyed demand for air travel, cargo remains the sole bright spot.
With fewer passenger planes in the air, there’s less room for freight that’s normally transported in their holds. That’s driven up demand for dedicated cargo jets to help handle the boom driven by online shopping, vaccine distribution and just-in-time supply chains.
Pre-pandemic, 60% of all international air-cargo capacity was in the bellies of passenger aircraft, according to industry group IATA, and 2020 capacity shrank by almost a quarter. That shortage meant rates surged to all-time highs, based on a report by Sanford C. Bernstein.