Global air cargo data released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has indicated continuing rising demand for air freight demand all over the world, with an 11.7 per cent increase in demand proving the foundation for an overall increase of 9.4 per cent year-on-year growth.
The Asia-North America trade lane has seen 11 consecutive months of growth and rose by 7.6 per cent in September and holds 25 per cent of the world’s trade share.
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The Europe-Asia trade lane has seen a world-leading 19 consecutive months of growth, while demand for trade lanes within Europe skyrocketed by 18 per cent in September.
“September performance brought continued good news for air cargo markets,” IATA Director General Willie Walsh says.
“With 9.4 per cent year-on-year growth, cargo volumes continued to mark all-time highs for demand.
“Yields are also improving, up 11.7 per cent on 2023 and 50 per cent above 2019 levels. All this points to a strong finish for this year.
“For longer-term trends, the air cargo world will be closely following the outcome of the US election for indications of how US trade policy will evolve.”
The largest increasing trend in the current global air cargo market is the continuing rise of capacity, which is measures in available cargo-tonne kilometres (ACTKs).
Compared to September 2023 ACTKs rose by 6.4 per cent, and 8.1 per cent for international operations.
Growth in international belly capacity is propping up the continued increases, with its 10.3 per cent rise extending the trend of double-digit annual capacity growth to 41 consecutive months.
The IATA’s full September air cargo analysis is available here.
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