Freighter capacity into Europe has been dropping since the EU introduced a €3 customs duty on low-value parcels imported from outside the EU.
This is according to Aevean, whose latest data shows daily average freighter capacity from Asia Pacific and Middle East & South Asia into Europe fell 14% in July versus June. This is the the equivalent of 18 fewer widebody freighter flights every day.
The EU introduced its temporary customs duty, which impacts e-commerce trade, on 1 July. The customs duty charge is per item on parcels valued below €150. A separate €2 handling fee per consignment is expected from 1 November 2026. This is intended to bridge the gap until the EU Customs Data Hub is launched in 2028.
Some EU member states are also already introducing their own local fees and requirements in parallel with the EU-wide reform.
“Freighter capacity into Europe is thinning out this summer, with the EU €3 customs duty for low-value parcels as key driver,” said Aevean.
Airports that handle significant e-commerce volumes reflected this, pointed out the aviation consulting company. Freighter capacity was down 46% at Budapest, 33% at Madrid, 24% at Milan and 16% at Liège.
Frankfurt and Schiphol fared slightly better with 11-12% declines, while Paris-Charles de Gaulle was up 9%, the only top 10 airport to add capacity.
At the beginning of the month, data from Rotate also showed freighter capacity between China and Hong Kong and the European Union declined following the introduction of the EU fee.
Elsewhere, WorldACD Market Data figures confirmed that air cargo tonnages from Hong Kong to Europe were down by more than 20% by mid-July compared with their levels this time last year and in early June.
Chargeable weight from Hong Kong to Europe fell by another 5% in week 29 (13 to 19 July), the fifth consecutive week-on-week (WoW) decline.
That meant Hong Kong to Europe volumes were down by almost one quarter (24%) compared with the equivalent week last year. And averaged across weeks 26 to 29, tonnages were down by 18%, year on year, based on the more than 500,000 weekly transactions covered by WorldACD’s data.
Traffic from mainland China fell by a further 2%, week on week, in week 29, after dropping 9% the previous week, taking tonnages from China to Europe down 10%, year on year.
Averaged across weeks 26 to 29, volumes from China to Europe were down by 8% year on year. Combined tonnages for China and Hong Kong to Europe across those four weeks were down 11% year on year, whereas the remainder of the global market recorded 5% year on year growth in the same period.
Like Aevean, WorldACD said there was a clear correlation between the decline in air cargo volumes and the EU customs duty.
“The steep drop in tonnages from China to Europe during that time, particularly from Hong Kong, is linked to the introduction in the European Union (EU) from 1 July of new import rules involving the removal of the previous ‘de minimis’ exemption on items valued below €150, introducing a fixed fee of €3 per item plus new customs reporting requirements,” said the data company.
“Traffic from Hong Kong has been most affected by the new rule changes because in recent years it has contained a very high percentage of e-commerce volumes.”
WorldACD further said that volumes to Europe from some other significant origin countries in Asia Pacific have also seen substantial declines in the three weeks since the implementation of the new EU rules, with tonnages from Vietnam and Thailand down, YoY, by 9% and 11%, respectively, in week 29.
Overall chargeable weight from Asia Pacific to Europe was down by 13% year on year, in both weeks 28 and 29 – mainly driven by the declines from China and Hong Kong.
