THE INTERNATIONAL Air Transport Association has this week reported strong annual growth in air cargo demand for May 2024.
The latest monthly figures indicate total demand, measured in cargo tonne-kilometres, rose by 14.7% compared with May 2023 levels.
Capacity, measured in available cargo tonne-kilometres, increased by 6.7% compared with May 2023.
IATA director general Willie Walsh said all regions experienced the sharp increase in demand
“The sector benefitted from trade growth, booming e-commerce and capacity constraints on maritime shipping,” he said.
“The outlook remains largely positive with purchasing managers showing expectations for future growth. Some dampening, however, could come as the US imposes stricter conditions on e-commerce deliveries from China.
“Increased costs and transit times for shipments under $800 may deter US consumers and pose significant challenges for growth on the Asia-North America trade lane – the world’s biggest.”
IATA noted several factors in the operating environment, including a month-on-month increase in industrial production and global cross-border trade (0.5% and 1.5% respectively).
Airlines in the Asia-Pacific region saw 17.8% year-on-year demand growth for air cargo in May. Demand on the Africa-Asia trade lane grew by 40.6% year-on-year, while the Europe-Asia, within Asia and Middle East-Asia trade lanes, rose by 20.4%, 19.2% and 18.6% respectively. Capacity increased by 8.4% year-on-year.
North American carriers saw 8.7% year-on-year demand growth for air cargo in May —the weakest among all regions. Demand on the Asia-North America trade lane grew by 12.0% year-on-year, while the North America-Europe route saw an increase of 8.9%, marking the largest demand growth for this route since mid-2022. May capacity increased by 2.5% year-on-year.
European carriers saw 17.2% year-on-year demand growth for air cargo in May. Intra-European air cargo rose by 25.6% compared with May 2023, the fifth month in a row of double-digit annual growth. Europe-Middle East routes saw demand increase by 33.8%. May capacity increased 11.9% year-on-year.
Middle Eastern carriers saw 15.3% year-on-year demand growth for air cargo in May. As mentioned above, the Middle East-Europe market performed particularly well with 33.8% annual growth, ahead of Middle East-Asia which grew by 18.6% year-on-year. May capacity increased 2.7% year-on-year.
Latin American carriers saw 12.7% year-on-year demand growth for air cargo in May. Capacity increased 8.0% year-on-year.
And African airlines saw 18.4% year-on-year demand growth for air cargo in May – the strongest of all regions. Demand on the Africa–Asia market increased by 40.6% compared with May 2023, the strongest performance of all trade lanes. May capacity increased by 21.4% year-on-year.
