EDITOR’S
WELCOME
MISSION
STATEMENT
Clouded judgement
It seems as we enter 2020 that our vision is somewhat obscured by a
cloud of bad news.
The year has already seen a couple of airlines file for bankruptcy,
the shocking accidental downing of a Ukrainian Airlines passenger
aircraft and tightening travel restrictions to and from China,
in a global effort to contain the Wuhan viral outbreak. As a key
manufacturing region, the latter’s impact on air cargo and, thus,
on shoppers, traders and e-tailers doing business with China is
inevitable. It doesn’t need to be said that fear, financial ruin and
airspace closures are the enemy of the commercial aviation industry
and a threat to all-important connectivity and globalisation.
On the cargo side of the equation, the story has been less than rosy
for some time, of course. The end of 2019 brought with it record lows
in sales for the retail industry, despite the traditionally high-yield
festive period, topping off a year of consistent decline in air cargo
volumes – in part caused by the impact of the trade war on market
demand. While air freight demonstrated its worst performance since
the 2008-2009 global financial crisis, passenger volumes, too, suffered
as a result of global tensions.
But, as the old adage goes, every cloud has a silver lining, and
the benefit of reaching rock bottom is that there’s nowhere to go
but up – right? IATA has admitted that the restrictions being put
in place in response to the coronavirus are expected to be a “drag”
on economic growth this year, but it is yet to officially revise its
(modest) prediction of 2% growth in airfreight volumes in 2020,
against a decline of 3.3% in 2019. It has also predicted year-on-year
improvement in airline profitability, adding that destinations served
will rise above 23,000 for the first time in 2020, as airlines add more
and more cities to their networks. This all hinges on the political
powerhouses in the US and China reconciling their differences ahead
of this year’s US election, but it’s nonetheless good news for a betterconnected
world.
Perhaps most importantly, none of the aforesaid uncertainty seems
to have dampened the cargo sector’s spirit of growth and innovation.
News continues to break of expansions, partnerships and developing
technologies – our best weapon in the war against adversity.
Felicity Stredder, Deputy Editor
ALI comes from the
same team responsible
for the well-established
titles of Ground Handling
International and Ramp
Equipment News. As
such, it builds on over
20 years of industry
experience and, with
a comprehensive and
skilled team of writers
based in both Europe
and the US, aims to bring
the reader up to date
with the world of air
transportation.
4 February 2020 www.airlogisticsinternational.com
/www.airlogisticsinternational.com