The air cargo market may be experiencing something of a decline at present according to IATA, which recently announced that demand for air freight in 2019 fell to its lowest since the global financial crisis 10 years earlier, but there’s still plenty of confidence in the market.

Inside this issue, for instance, we bring you an update on the €50 million investment at Budapest Cargo City; the dedicated air freight facility opened last November, boosting annual capacity at the Eastern European hub to 250,000 tonnes. The new 32,800m2 facility includes a 21,600m² handling building, a 11,200m² forwarder building and a 32,000m² cargo apron that is capable of servicing two Boeing 747 freighters simultaneously.

We also check in with Delta Cargo and hear all about its innovative plans; these include a raft of new services – in particular the relaunch of its JFK-Mumbai route after an absence
of 10 years – as well as the introduction of a same-day delivery service described as an industry-first for a US passenger airline.

One booming cargo market that is bucking the international trend is Africa, and in our trade lanes feature we learn that the Africa-to-Europe market is expected to average 3.2 per cent growth per year, with Europe-to-Africa trade forecast to increase annually by 4.2 per cent, reflecting increased investment in time-critical shipments that depend on air freight.

We’ve had a major revamp for our first issue of 2020, with a fresh, clean design and some brand new content, including a Q&A featuring temperature-management packaging solutions provider CSafe and an interview with Israel’s major aerospace and aviation manufacturer, IAI.

Meanwhile, in our regular sustainability column we hear from the vice-president of business development at Neste’s renewable aviation department about the growing importance of sustainable aviation fuels.

We hope you enjoy the issue; we’ll be back in the summer with features on cargo door modifications, loading equipment and the transportation of healthcare products.