August was the ninth consecutive month of double-digit year-on-year growth for the global air cargo market boosted by global trade growth, e-commerce demand and ocean shipping constraints.
Total demand, measured in cargo tonne-kilometers (CTKs), rose by 11.4% compared to August 2023 levels, said IATA.
Capacity, measured in available cargo tonne-kilometers (ACTKs), increased by 6.2% compared to August 2023. This was largely due to 10.9% growth in international belly capacity. Industry-wide capacity has reached an all-time high, noted the trade body.
And the cargo load factor was up two percentage points to 44%.
Despite global record capacity and falling fuel prices, the global air cargo yield maintains a moderate upward trend.
“We continue to see very good news in air cargo markets," said Willie Walsh, IATA’s director general. "The sector recorded a second consecutive month of record high demand year-to-date. Even with record levels of capacity, yields are up 11.7% on 2023, 2% on the previous month, and 46% above pre-pandemic levels.
"This strong performance is underpinned by slow but steady growth in global trade, booming e-commerce, and continuing capacity constraints on maritime shipping."
Regionally, Asia Pacific continued to see strong demand. Asia Pacific airlines saw 14.6% year-on-year demand growth for air cargo in August. Demand on the Asia-Africa, Asia-Europe and within-Asia markets grew by 21.2%, 18.4% and 16.1% respectively.
"Intra-Asia demand growth decreased by five percentage points from the previous month, partially linked to the social unrest in Bangladesh and Typhoon Shanshan in Japan. Both events impacted local logistics operations with airport closures and flight cancellations."
North American carriers saw 4.8% growth - the lowest of all regions. Although demand on the Asia-North America trade lane grew by 9.3% year on year.
European carriers saw 13.5% growth. The Middle East–Europe trade lane was 28.9%, maintaining double-digit annual growth that originated in September 2023.
Middle Eastern carriers saw 13.5% year-on-year demand growth for air cargo in August. As previously noted, the Middle East–Europe market performed particularly well.
Latin American carriers saw 14.2% growth and African airlines saw 7.5% growth. Demand on the Africa–Asia market increased by 21.1%, continuing double-digit growth that began in the second half of 2023.
The overall economic environment was mixed, said IATA. Industrial production stayed level in August month on month and global cross-border trade fell marginally.
In August, both the Purchasing Managers Index (PMIs) for global manufacturing output and the PMI for new export orders were below the 50-mark at 49.9 and 48.4 respectively, indicating contraction.
In the US and EU, inflation rates fell to 2.6% and 2.4% respectively, the lowest rates since 2021. In contrast, Japan’s inflation rose 0.3 percentage points to 3%, the highest rate in ten months.
China’s inflation rate continued its moderate upward trend, growing by 0.1 percentage points to reach 0.7%, the highest rate in six months.
https://www.aircargonews.net/airlines/iata-double-digit-growth-in-cargo-demand-continues-in-july/
