Air Cargo

Uneven Peak Season Demand Expected Across Air Cargo Lanes

CH Robinson says air cargo volumes will rebound following the Golden Week holiday, but growth will diverge sharply by origin and commodity type. Technology shipments including servers and semiconductors are driving transpacific demand, while new consumer device launches add time-sensitive pressure. General freight will climb more gradually as retailers stock inventory for Black Friday, Cyber Monday and year-end sales. E-commerce, historically a major demand driver, is expected to play a diminished role due to tariff shifts in the US and Europe. Airlines deploying additional freighter capacity toward strong US demand corridors may leave shippers bound for Europe and intra-Asia routes with constrained options, the forwarder cautioned. Passenger belly capacity cannot fully substitute for dedicated freighter aircraft on certain commodities. Asia-Pacific to US volumes were running 17 percent above year-ago levels in mid-September, with technology-heavy origins showing stronger gains.