Frankfurt cargo volumes grow despite Middle East conflict as preighters return to action
What happened
4% increase in cargo volumes in March to 185,500 tonnes, despite the overall air cargo market declining by 3-4% as a result of the conflict, according to data providers WorldACD and Xeneta. Airport operator Fraport said that freight capacity on flights to the Middle East declined by 51. This matters for Logistics, Marine & Aviation because fresh price movement and input-cost detail should reset bid assumptions, fuel indexation, and negotiation guardrails with 0.4, 185,500, 3-4 as the clearest commercial anchors; expect surcharge updates
Buyer takeaway
For Logistics, Marine & Aviation, treat this as a cost-boundary signal rather than just a headline; buyer assumptions may need refreshing before the next quote or award decision
Cost / money
Use this to refresh should-cost views and challenge any fast repricing. Keep the read-through directional unless the source itself provides hard commercial numbers
Supplier / commercial
Suppliers with fresh cost justification may push harder on reopeners, indexation, shorter quote validity, or pass-through language. Buyers should separate real drivers from negotiation posture
Safety / operations
The operational risk is indirect: tight budgets or repricing battles often reappear later as reduced slack, substitutions, or execution compromises that buyers then have to manage
What to watch
Watch for shorter quote validity, reopeners, pass-through requests, or attempts to reset pricing on the back of weak evidence
Key facts
- 4% increase in cargo volumes in March to 185,500 tonnes, despite the overall air cargo market
- Airport operator Fraport said that freight capacity on flights to the Middle East declined by 51
- Once operations were able to restart, an extra 50 “preighter” flights – where passenger aircr
- “Since the beginning of March, the market has faced significant capacity constraints,” the ai
