Trendwatch: IATA revises predictions for 2025 air cargo performance downwards; IndiGo expands network with Air France-KLM, Virgin Atlantic, Delta deal; Container ship charter market maintains momentum

IATA revises predictions for 2025 air cargo performance downwards

Trade body IATA has revealed that it expects a total of 69m tonnes of air cargo to be flown over the course of this calendar year.

This figure would be 0.6% up on 2024, but well below the previously projected volume of 72.5m tonnes.

The industry saw an 11.3% rate of growth in air cargo volumes last year.

IndiGo expands network with Air France-KLM, Virgin Atlantic, Delta deal

India's largest airline IndiGo has entered an agreement with Air France-KLM, Virgin Atlantic and Delta to expand its long-haul services to North America, Europe and Britain, the airlines said on Sunday.

IndiGo has an extensive domestic network in India, the world's third-largest air passenger market, and is expanding its international reach.

Container ship charter market maintains momentum

Given the levels of uncertainty, ratcheted up by the US International Court of Trade’s outlawing of Donald Trump’s tariff wars, charterers remain unclear what lies on the horizon.

There are definitely clouds on the horizon, but whether they are storm clouds or wispy cirrus with a silver lining remains to be seen, but that is no help to those wondering whether to ship freight to the US or wait to see if the dust settles.

South Africa takes another step on path to creating a national shipping line

More than a quarter of a century since Safmarine was sold to Maersk, South Africa is slowly gearing up to found another national shipping carrier. 

Having been on the drawing board since 2017, Pretoria is now finalising plans to create a national shipping line with the department of transport inviting shipping companies to take part in a steering committee to establish a model for the new business, with the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) set to be involved in its creation. The new carrier is likely to be called South African Shipping Company (SASCO).

Emirates SkyCargo to add new east-west connections

Emirates SkyCargo, the cargo arm of Dubai-based Emirates Airline, is adding new connections between European destinations and the Middle and Far East.

It plans to add two further weekly charter freighter services between Milan, Italy, and Southeast China, via Dubai, from the third quarter of this year

It expects fashion goods and pharmaceuticals, as well as general cargo, to be carried on the freighters.

ONE Launches Green Ship Recycling Policy Ahead of Hong Kong Convention

Ocean Network Express (ONE) has announced the implementation of a comprehensive Ship Recycling Policy and membership in the Ship Recycling Transparency Initiative (SRTI).

Announced last week in Singapore, the initiatives demonstrate ONE’s commitment to responsible end-of-life vessel management as the company prepares to receive its newbuild ships. The policy mandates that ONE vessels must be recycled exclusively at certified facilities that comply with international regulations and standards, primarily the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships (HKC) and EU Ship Recycling Regulation.

Global schedule reliability reaches six-month high in April

Year-over-year (YoY), this marks a 6.5 point improvement.

Sea-Intelligence has released issue 165 of its Global Liner Performance (GLP) report, covering schedule reliability through April 2025.

The full 120-page report analyses 34 trade lanes and over 60 carriers; this summary highlights key findings.

Among the top 13 carriers, Maersk led with 73.4 per cent reliability, followed by Hapag-Lloyd at 72.3 per cent and Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) at 60.7 per cent.

Indonesia’s trade surplus shrinks to lowest in 5 years in April

Indonesia booked a trade surplus of around $160 million in April, the lowest since April 2020, amid a surge in imports, while the country's inflation cooled in May, data from the statistics bureau showed on Monday.

A Reuters poll of analysts had predicted a surplus of $3.04 billion.

Southeast Asia's biggest economy has recorded a trade surplus every month for five years, supporting its external balance. But the April print was the narrowest in that period; the surplus in March was $4.33 billion