2023 International Airfreight Indicator

Overview

Airfreight continues to make a significant contribution to Australia’s economy

In 2022, the value of international goods transported by airfreight reached $139 billion, equivalent to 14 per cent of Australia’s trade. While the total volume of goods transported by air is low relative to total trade, the high-value nature of airfreighted goods means its contribution to Australia’s economy remains significant.

Airfreight accounted for 20 per cent of total Australian trade value prior to the pandemic. The declining share is largely due to the significant growth in the value of commodity exports and imports by sea since 2019, such as iron ore.

Australia’s airfreight supply chain are still feeling the impacts of the pandemic disruption

The airfreight supply chain carried almost 790,000 tonnes of freight in 2022, equivalent to over 16 fully loaded 747-8 freighter services each day.

The airfreight task, while still significant, remains well below pre-pandemic levels with overall volumes being almost 215,000 tonnes, or 21 per cent, lower than 2019 volumes – though this is a tale of two markets, with imports recovered and the slow recovery of exports contributing to most of these numbers. Volumes carried in 2022 were similar to 2020 and 2021 levels, despite the return of passenger networks and the corresponding return of belly capacity on some key trade routes. The delayed recovery in overall airfreight volumes can be explained by:

• China remaining closed to passenger travel throughout 2022 and emerging trade policy challenges. China was Australia’s top ranked destination for airfreight exports prior to the pandemic.
• Supply chains needing time to adjust to the return of passenger networks and belly capacity.
• A commensurate reduction in ‘preighter’ capacity i.e. the return of passenger services simply replaced preighter capacity which supported a proportion of freight flows in 2020 and 2021.

Source: Infrastructure Partnerships Australia analysis of ABS Custom data

Imports proved more resilient to pandemic disruption with green shoots emerging across key supply chains

Imports proved to be more resilient with volumes totalling 401,041 tonnes in 2022, only 28,000 tonnes or 7 per cent lower compared to pre-pandemic levels (2019). The resilience of airfreight imports is partly due to the growing deployment of dedicated freighters and a lower reliance on belly capacity provided by passenger services.

After an initial drop in 2020, total import volumes have also increased across Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth Airports. For Sydney Airport airfreight imports have increased from 2019 volumes. Australia’s other major airports are also on track to recover to pre-pandemic volumes by 2024.

Airfreight imports continue to consist predominantly of machinery and mechanical appliances, electronics, chemical products, medical/optical/visual instruments, pharmaceutical products and clothing and accessories.

The key markets for airfreight imports continue to be China, USA, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Germany.

Airfreight volumes remain concentrated at Sydney Airport

2022 saw further concentration of airfreight volumes at Sydney Airport, which handled 53 per cent of exports and 55 per cent of imports. Sydney Airport’s share of imports remained consistent with its pre-pandemic share which sat at 49 per cent – however, the Airport’s share of exports was noticeably higher compared to pre-pandemic levels of 37 per cent.

While the ongoing rebuild of passenger networks is likely to see a rebalancing of volumes across all major airports, it is too early to tell what the steady-state freight volumes will be for major airports across Australia post-recovery.

Source: Infrastructure Partnerships Australia analysis of ABS Custom data