Air France KLM (AF KLM) saw cargo revenue growth flatten and volumes decline in the second quarter as the group switched aircraft away from Asia.
The airline group said that second-quarter revenues increased by 2.6% year on year to €918m, while cargo traffic dropped by 17.2% on last year to 1.7bn revenue tonne km despite a 27.4% increase in capacity to 3.3bn available tonne km.
The company said that it had increased capacity globally, except Asia.
“This limited belly capacity to Asia affected the overall traffic which resulted in a traffic decrease,” AF KLM said.
Passenger travel to China and Hong Kong continued to be affected by travel restrictions during the second quarter meaning airlines expanded their networks to other locations and away from these key cargo origins.
IAG Cargo also saw its cargo performance for the quarter affected by the ramp up of passenger flying.
In contrast, forwarders, which were able to stay focussed on Asian markets, continued to report large increases in profits and revenues despite a volume slowdown.
However, AF KLM pointed out that cargo performance was still strong compared with pre-Covid levels.
“When compared to the pre-Covid year 2019, cargo capacity in the second quarter was still 8% below 2019,” AF KLM said.
“However, due to exceptional yield performance – driven by high demand – total revenues in the second quarter of 2022 were 76% higher than 2019.”
The company also provided an update on its partnership with freight forwarder CMA CGM‘s airline business, with a report in The Loadstar suggesting that AF KLM will now oversee the joint venture.
The airline group said: “In May, Air France-KLM announced its entry into a strategic partnership with CMA CGM Air Cargo (CCAC). The partnership agreement is currently being worked out and expected to be finalized before the end of 2022.”
