U.S. International Air Cargo Fell 6% in August 2020 from August 2019 while U.S.-Asia Cargo Rose 11% (Preliminary)

U.S. Department of Transportation sent this bulletin at 10/22/2020 10:09 AM EDT

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BTS 72-20

Thursday, October 22, 2020

Contact: Dave Smallen

Tel: 202-366-5568

david.smallen@dot.gov

U.S. International Air Cargo Fell 6% in August 2020 from August 2019 while U.S.-Asia Cargo Rose 11% (Preliminary)

Aug 2020 International Air Cargo Fig 1

U.S. and foreign airlines carried 5.9% less cargo by weight (preliminary) between the U.S. and foreign points in August 2020 than in August 2019, despite a 10.5% rise in cargo between the U.S. and Asia, according to data filed with the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) by 33 large air carriers. The decline in August was larger than the 3.8% (revised) drop from July 2019 to July 2020.

The total to and from the U.S. includes world areas that are not shown separately.

Aug 2020 International Air Cargo Figure 2

Air cargo reports are filed monthly with BTS. August 2020 numbers in this release are preliminary with final data to be released on Nov. 13. Cargo data in this release are limited to shipments between U.S. and foreign points. Due to confidentiality requirements, public access to international origin and destination data of U.S. and foreign air carriers is restricted for a period of six months from the data date. Complete international data will be released on Feb. 11. Numbers in this release are based on world area codes.

Total Air Cargo to and from the U.S.

August 2020 cargo: 703 thousand tons

August 2019 cargo: 747 thousand tons

Change from August 2019: -5.9%

Recent high: July 2020 (1,045 thousand tons)

Recent low: February 2020 (781 thousand tons)

Largest regional annual increase: Asia, up 10.5%

Largest regional annual decrease: Europe, down 26.3%

Table 1: Total Cargo to and from the U.S.: Percent Change from the Same Month of the Previous Year 2016-2020

Change in Weight of Cargo on U.S. and Foreign Airlines

Cargo = Freight + Mail

		Year-to-Year Percent Change
	2016-2017	2017-2018	2018-2019	2019-2020
January	8.5	13.8	-2.2	-5.4
February	8.0	13.6	-5.4	-7.0
March	10.2	11.6	-1.9	-17.0
April	7.1	11.6	-8.2	-16.5
May	12.5	11.3	-6.2	-13.7
June	12.1	8.6	-6.8	-10.1
July	13.5	3.2	-6.6	-3.8
August	13.6	5.1	-2.9	-5.9*
September	10.0	5.7	-7.7
October	12.2	2.0	-8.4
November	17.9	-9.4	-0.2
December	14.1	-1.7	-8.1
Annual	11.8	5.7	-5.4

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 International Market (All Carriers)

* August 2020 data is preliminary

See the tables that accompany this release on the BTS website for year-to-year changes since 2017 for Europe, Latin America, Asia (including China), China, and Canada.

Europe

August 2020 cargo: 165 thousand tons

August 2019 cargo: 223 thousand tons

Change from August 2019: -26.3%

Percent of August 2020 total international air cargo: 23.4%

Latin America

August 2020 cargo: 79 thousand tons

August 2019 cargo: 90 thousand tons

Change from August 2019: -12.7%

Percent of August 2020 total international air cargo: 11.2%

Asia (including China)

August 2020 cargo: 403 thousand tons

August 2019 cargo: 364 thousand tons

Change from August 2019: +10.5%

Percent of August 2020 total international air cargo: 57.3%

China

August 2020 cargo: 90 thousand tons

August 2019 cargo: 88 thousand tons

Change from August 2019: +2.4%

Percent of August 2020 total international air cargo: 12.8%

China to U.S.: 86.2%

U.S. to China: 13.8%

Canada

August 2020 cargo: 23.2 thousand tons

August 2019 cargo: 23.0 thousand tons

Change from August 2019: +1.2%

Percent of August 2020 total international air cargo: 3.3%

Canada to U.S.: 39.7%

U.S. to Canada: 60.3%

Reporting Notes

Data are compiled from monthly reports filed with BTS by commercial U.S. air carriers detailing operations, passenger traffic, and cargo traffic. This release includes data received by BTS from 33 U.S. and foreign airlines as of Oct. 14.

See the BTS Airlines and Airports page for additional U.S. airlines numbers through July for U.S. airlines. International data by origin and destination is available through April.

None of the data are from samples. Measures of statistical significance do not apply to the complete air traffic data.