IATA: Air cargo demand continues to grow in July

Global air cargo data from IATA shows a strong continual annual growth in demand. The data shows that July is the eighth consecutive month of double-digit growth when compared to the previous eight months of 2023, with levels in July rising by 13.6% in comparison to the same month of last year. Commenting further on the month, Willie Walsh, IATA’s director general said: “The air cargo business continues to benefit from growth in global trade, booming e-commerce and capacity constraints on maritime shipping.” He continued: “With the peak season still to come, it is shaping to be a very strong year for air cargo. And airlines have proven adept at navigating political and economic uncertainties to flexibly meet emerging demand trends.” Looking in more detail at specific global regions - Asia-Pacific airlines saw the largest increase in demand growth for air cargo when compared to the same period of 2023 – increasing by 17.6%. Middle Eastern carriers saw the second largest increase in demand growth with an increase of 14.7%. This was followed by European carrier who saw and increase of 13.7%, Latin American carriers who saw an 11.1% increase, North American carriers whose demand rose by 8.7% and African Airlines whose demand grew by 6.2% when compared to the levels seen in July of last year. As well as an increase in demand, capacity has also seen an increase rising by 8.3% compared to the same period of last year. “This was largely related to the growth in international belly capacity, which rose 12.8% on the strength of passenger markets and balancing the 6.9% growth of international freighter capacity,” said a spokesperson for IATA.