Air freight down by 15% compared to January last year

According to Xeneta, air cargo rates as of mid-January of this year were on average 15% lower than at the beginning of last year, but continue to significantly exceed the level of pre-corona crisis 2019. At the same time, in the segment of Europe-Asia transportation, the average rates still remain above the level of January 2022.

The most significant reductions have been observed on routes from Asia:

• to Europe – by 29%;
• to the USA – by 37%.

Despite this fact, rates for cargo transportation to Europe remain above the level of 2019 by an average of 62%, to the US - by 86%.

Air freight rates are expected to accelerate their decline amid cargo volume shifts from air to sea freight, where rates and schedule compliance make sea freight more favourable for shippers.