The air freight market was expected to be strong in 2022 and continue its growth in 2023. The reason behind this was the prognosis that the congestion of seaports and shortage of containers would lead to an increase in air freight. Moreover, it was believed that the belly capacity would not return in 2022 or early 2023 due to travel restrictions.

However, things took a different turn as most countries lifted travel restrictions much faster than expected. This resulted in an increased belly capacity and a reduction in seaport congestion and delays. The increased air freight capacity led to a surplus and the fear of recession, coupled with the war in Ukraine, caused a slowdown in the air freight market.

Another factor contributing to the weakening air freight market was the return of travel as people started to spend less on consumer goods and electronics. The positive news was the lifting of zero covid policy (lockdowns) and travel restrictions in Hong Kong and China. These two major markets in Asia are now returning to the market. The impact of this on the air freight market in Asia is yet to be seen as all Asian economies are slowly returning from Chinese New Year festivities.

The air freight market has been on a roller coaster ride in 2022 and 2023, with unexpected turns and twists. It remains to be seen how the market will perform in the future as economies continue to recover from the pandemic.