African airlines saw 2.1% fall in demand for air cargo in May 2025 vs global 2.2% rise – IATA
The International Air Transport Association (IATA)has released data for May 2025 global air cargo markets showing the latest analysis of demand and capacity with African Airlines registering a 2.1% year-on-year decrease in demand for air cargo.
African airlines however increased their cargo capacity by 2.7% year-on-year in the month of May 2025 compared to last over the same period .
During the same period, globally demand rose 2.2% which was marginally faster than the 2.0% expansion of capacity recording a 44.5% Cargo Load Factor. Globally and in Africa, less than half of the available revenue-generating air cargo capacity was utilized.
The health of the air cargo market is a useful dipstick indicator of global, regional and domestic trade.
Last year airlines transported over 62 million cargo tonnes of goods, representing more than 33% of global trade by value but less than 1% of world trade by volume. That is equivalent to $8.3 trillion worth of goods annually, or $22.7 billion worth of goods every day.
Items typically transported by air cargo include smart phones, pharmaceuticals, gemstones and precious metals, cut flowers and other perishables, documents, parcels and e-commerce shipments.
“Air cargo demand globally grew 2.2% in May. That is encouraging news as a 10.7% drop in traffic on the Asia to North America trade lane illustrated the dampening effect of shifting US trade policies. Even as these policies evolve, already we can see the air cargo sector’s well-tested resilience helping shippers to accommodate supply chain needs to flexibly hold back, re-route or accelerate deliveries,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General.
Several factors in the operating environment should be noted: Year-on-year, world industrial production rose 2.6% in April 2025. Air cargo volumes grew 6.8% over the same period, outpacing global goods trade growth of 3.8%.
Jet fuel prices in May 2025 were 18.8% lower than the previous year and 4.3% below the previous month.
Global manufacturing contracted in May, with the PMI falling to 49.1, below the 50 mark that signals growth. New export orders also remained in negative territory at 48, reflecting pressure from recent U.S. trade policy changes.
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