Firms in the air cargo industry
In addition to well-functioning markets with a multitude of cargo firms, cargo airports are the necessary nodes in the global air freight transportation industry providing crucial infrastructure for air cargo firms. Since 2014, Hong Kong (HKG), Memphis (MEM), and Shanghai (PVG) were the largest cargo airports by freight volume. In 2020, FedEx, UPS, and Qatar Airways were the leading three airlines for international and domestic air cargo in terms of freight tonne-kilometers. In less than a decade, Emirates Group’s air cargo volume increased by 70 percent, reaching over 2.6 million metric tons of cargo carried. Some firms have a more dynamic market strategy with large expansions. For instance, Qatar Airways increased the amount of cargo carried to over 2.7 billion metric tons.Outlook of the air cargo industry in the aftermath of COVID-19
The growth of global trade and economic relations triggered indirectly a positive expansion of the air cargo industry until 2020. However, the persistence and magnitude of the coronavirus shock make countries and industries rethink industrial policy designs. To shift towards localized industrial production is one of the tendencies , especially in the aftermath of COVID-19. Consequently, industries can strive to become somewhat self-sufficient, thus, reducing the need for more transportation including air cargo. Most importantly, the coronavirus outbreak hits the international air freight forwarding market through a persistent health shock that drags the global economy into a deep recession. This is because industrial production remained at a historically low-level globally throughout 2020. In a severe impact scenario, the global air freight forwarding market is expected to contract by 7.7 percent in 2020 compared with 2019. Moreover, the restrictions on passenger aviation impacted the share of freighter capacity in the air cargo segment. As of August 2020, approximately 78 percent of the air cargo capacity was supplied by a freighter (a cargo aircraft), which is a sharp change from the balance of 50-50 between belly freight and freighter air cargo prior to the coronavirus pandemic.
