The latest monthly traffic statistics from the IAG Group have once again highlighted the steady decline in cargo volumes experienced by the group over the last four and a half years.
In May, IAG, which includes British Airways and Iberia, saw demand in terms of cargo tonne km decline 2% year on year to 437m CTK.
This figure in itself may not be that surprising but it should also be considered that it is actually the weakest May in CTK terms ever recorded by the group.
Cargo demand for May has declined every year since the group was formed, with the highest volume for that month recorded in 2011 when 534m CTK was carried.
To put that decline into context, IAG’s cargo volumes in May of this year were 18.2% down on the same month in 2011.
The trend isn’t just limited to the month of May. IAG’s cargo volumes have slipped every year since the British and Spanish airlines came together.
In 2014, the combined entity handled 5.45bn CTK, representing an 11.3% decline on the 6.15bn CTK recorded in 2011.
So far, this year looks set to continue that trend, with demand for the first five months of the year down by 2.6% on last year to 2.19bn CTK.
Some of the difference can be explained by the decision terminate its agreement with Global Supply Systems (GSS), under which it leased three B747-8Fs, at the end of April last year.
IAG Cargo then signed a long term commitment from May to purchase capacity, although lower than the amount it had access to through its GSS deal, on Qatar Airways-operated B777Fs, operating five flights a week between Hong Kong and London-Stansted.
This was part of a decision to "address capacity discipline head-on" and commit to "sensible capacity management", chief executive Steve Gunning has said.
During the first three months of the year, the British Airways and Iberia cargo division saw revenues decline by 1.6% on last year to €246m.
The revenue decline came as a capacity reduction of eight percent resulted in a decline in volumes of 4.2% year on year to 1.3bn cargo tonne kilometres and a 3.1% slip in cargo carried to 218,000 tonnes.
But it also reported a two point improvement in load factor and a 2.7% improvement in yield.
Cargo revenue per CTK for the first three months also increased on last year, jumping 2.7% on year to €18.72.
Since then IAG has also announced that it will begin offering the cargo capacity of Spanish low-cost airline Vueling between Barcelona and Germany following on from its 2013 purchase of a large stake in the carrier.
IAG monthly cargo tonne km (m)
Source: IAG Group
Images may not be available on this story
