The global utilisation of air cargo capacity is 35% higher than the traditional industry indicator suggests, according to a new data services company introducing the ‘dynamic load factor’ analyses.
Refreshing the way air cargo capacity usage is measured to reflect modern day reality will strengthen the airlines’ voices with all stakeholders, not least airports, slot coordinators, legislators and aircraft manufacturers.
Underpinning this new way of thinking by CLIVE Data Services’award-winning ‘Selfie app’ is the realisation that air cargo load factors based on weight utilisation now paint a misleading picture of how full flights really are.
Traditionally, the amount of cargo flown in kgs is divided by the level of cargo capacity in kgs. But, the reality for the vast majority of widebody and freighter flights is that it’s the cargo capacity in cubic meters which is the limiting factor, not the cargo capacity in kgs. Consequently, existing load factors, based only on weight, underestimate how full planes really are, and thus give a distorted picture of how the industry really is performing. The fact that flights nearly always ‘cube out’ before they ‘weigh out’ is a result of the aircraft’s higher capacity density (available kgs per cubic meter) than the average density of the goods moved by air.
CLIVE’s analyses shows the real utilisation of air cargo capacity on a global level is 35% higher than the traditional indicator suggests.
Therefore it is time for a new yardstick: the dynamic load factor. To support this change in thinking, CLIVE Data Services will now be publishing this dynamic load factor analyses each month. It considers both the volume and the weight perspective of the cargo flown and capacity available, said a report.
Source : Various Agencies