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[Apha Biz=(Chicago) Reporter Paul Lee] Global air fares continued to fall by 40% for the fourth consecutive month.
It is expected to be a negative factor for Korean Air, which needs new entrants to the market for the merger with Asiana Airlines.
According to Geneta, a freight analysis company on the 16th, the average global monthly spot air freight fare fell 41% from the same month last year to $2.2 per kilogram. It has been on the decline for 10 consecutive months since September last year. Earlier this year, the year-on-year decline exceeded 30% and has remained at the 40% level since April. The recent rise in oil prices rebounded slightly last week, but has not changed the overall trend.
The air freight business was a representative 'COVID-19 special' industry along with the shipping industry. As supply compared to demand was insufficient due to supply chain disruption, fares soared, resulting in huge profits for airlines and others. However, due to the recent dynamic transition, it is on the trend of returning to pre-Corona. Demand for air freight fell 3.4 percent in the first half of this year from a year earlier, while supply rose 9.7 percent. The fare has been cut by half. Compared to the first half of 2019, demand decreased by 2.4% and supply increased by 3.7%. In other words, it has become worse than before COVID-19.
The airline industry's performance has already fallen sharply due to falling fares. In the case of Korean Air, freight sales in the second quarter decreased by 56% compared to the same period last year, and the overall operating profit decreased by 36%. During the same period, Asiana Airlines also saw its freight business sales fall 54 percent. Performance is expected to worsen in the second half of the year when freight negotiations between shippers, forwarders and airlines are held.
AlphaBIZ 폴 리(hoondork1977@alphabiz.co.kr)
