In 2021, profits after tax increased 68% to $1.3bn and revenue was up 40% to $4.4bn as the capacity shortages and strong yields from 2020 continued into 2021.
The airline benefited from backlogs in global supply chains, ocean freight constraints and limited bellyhold capacity, keeping volumes close to peak season production throughout the year.
Operationally, Cargolux says 2021 was more challenging because of quarantine restrictions confining crews to hotels, the lack of suitably qualified staff and infrastructure, full warehouses and a shortage of trucking services.
The temporary blockage of the Suez Canal increased demand for air cargo services, keeping capacity under pressure and resulting in year-round high volumes and strong yields.
Cargolux came out of 2021 as number 5 in IATA’s top 20 cargo carriers based on international scheduled freight tonne kilometres (FTK) flown.
To reduce CO2 emissions, Cargolux started using Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and will invest up to $100m over the coming years to develop technologies to produce SAF.
Looking into 2022, Cargolux says several uncertainties lie ahead as global supply chains are likely to be under even more pressure than 2021 and capacity will not recover to pre-pandemic levels in the coming months.
Border closures and lockdowns are still prevalent particularly in Asia and the war in Ukraine is unlikely to be resolved any time soon.
Sanctions on Russia have impacted international trade and grounding Russian carriers has reduced capacity.
The closure of Russian airspace is increasing costs due to longer flight times to and from Asia and jet fuel prices are volatile and significantly higher than 2021.