Freight vs. Pax, a tale of two markets
Freight has always under-performed at MAN relative to the passenger throughput. There was a brief bubble back in 2008-9 when we hit c.170k tonnes p.a., followed by the most spectacular collapse to c.100k tonnes within 3 or 4 years. Historically, 100k has been something of a ceiling, hard to break through despite booming passenger traffic. Passengers are firmly back in growth now and within 10% of the all time high, yet freight is nowhere, although there are signs that we may have hit the bottom now. Cathay at 2 or 3 per week would have been unthinkable 5 years ago. MAN is a strange animal, with a mismatch between passengers and freight traffic. Northerners seem keen once again to go on holiday and travel on business, but not to spend lots on Chinese imported goods. I suppose it also has something to do with being on the edge of the EU. Freight is quite happy to travel some distance on a truck to be consolidated at a point of departure, whilst the self-loading variety is not.
Last edited by roverman; 25th Aug 2013 at 08:15.