Originally Posted by
Darlox
....(margins on cargo are 50%+, since it's just added-on to the passenger routes). ...
Margins on cargo are seeing significant downward pressure right now and the operations with dedicated cargo services - both those which also have passenger service and those who only do freight - are able to better handle the lower demands.
Some useful reading on the topic:
http://www.aircargoworld.com/Air-Car...growth/2415348
In 2014, IATA expects a significant improvement in cargo growth to 3.7 percent. But yields for cargo markets are expected to fall by 2.1 percent.
...
The ability of airlines to match cargo capacity to demand is limited by the natural growth in belly capacity that occurs as airlines respond to passenger demand. As a result of this mismatch, cargo yields are expected to fall by 4.9 percent this year.
http://www.tiaca.org/images/TIACA/PD...20Industry.pdf - Talks about freight-specific operations, particularly in Asia.
http://www.boeing.com/assets/pdf/com...cargo/wacf.pdf - This is in their efforts to sell more all-cargo aircraft.
Averaged over the past two decades, freight yield has declined
4.2% per year. The most recent decade saw a slight yield
increase of 0.9% per year, compared to the 9.0% average annual
decline recorded in the preceding decade