The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said global air cargo demand marked its first growth since February 2022 but warned that the trajectory of global trade remains a concern.
Global demand — measured in cargo tonne-kilometers (CTKs) — increased by 1.5% compared to August 2022 levels (1.2% for international operations).
Capacity, measured in available cargo tonne-kilometers (ACTKs), was up 12.2% compared to August 2022 (11.8% for international operations).
IATA said this was largely related to belly capacity which rose 30% year-on-year as airlines ramped up operations to meet peak-northern summer travel season demand.
"Air cargo demand grew by 1.5% over the previous August. This is the first year-on-year growth in 19 months, so it is certainly welcome news," said Willie Walsh, director-general at IATA. "But it is of a low 2022 base and market signals are mixed."
"Looking ahead, while many uncertainties remain, we can take some optimism from PMI data moving towards positive territory. This is particularly significant as we head into air cargo's traditional peak year-end season," Walsh added.
[Source: IATA]
The IATA report noted that Asia-Pacific airlines saw their air cargo volumes increase by 4.9% in August 2023 compared to the same month in 2022.
This was a significant improvement in performance compared to July (+2.3%).
The report said carriers in the region benefited from growth on two major trade lanes: Europe-Asia (up from 3.1% in July to 8.8% in August) and Middle East-Asia (up from 2.7% in July to 3.5% in August).
Additionally, the within-Asia trade lane also performed better in August, with international CTKs contracting by 4.7% compared to the 9.7% annual decline in July.
Available capacity for the region's airlines increased by 28.5% compared to August 2022 as more belly capacity came online from the passenger side of the business.
North American carriers, meanwhile, saw their air cargo volumes decrease by 1.2% — an improvement in performance compared to July (-5.4%).
IATA said carriers in the region benefitted from a slight improvement in growth on two major trade lanes: North America (2.9% annual contraction in August,1.2 percentage points better than in July) and Asia-North America (declined 4.2% in August compared to 4.4% decrease in July). Capacity increased by 2.7% compared to August 2022.
European carriers saw their air cargo volumes decline by 0.2% in August. IATA noted that this was, however, an improvement in performance versus July (-1.0%). Volumes saw an increase due to the aforementioned Europe-Asia performance and a small increase in the Middle East-Europe markets by 0.4%. Capacity increased by 3.6% year-on-year.
Middle Eastern carriers experienced a 1.4% year-on-year increase in cargo volumes in August 2023. This was an improvement from the previous month's performance (-0.1%). The demand in the Middle East-Asia market has been trending upward in the past three months, expanding its year-on-year growth from 1.8% in June to 3.5% in August.
Capacity increased by 15.7% compared to August 2022.
Latin American carriers had the strongest performance in August 2023, with a 6.2% increase in cargo volumes compared to August 2022. This was a significant increase in performance compared to the previous month (+0.5%).
IATA said African airlines had the weakest performance in August, with a 4.7% decline in cargo volumes compared to August 2022. This was a significant decrease in performance compared to July (+2.3%).
Notably, Africa-Asia routes declined by 1.1% in August, following an 11.2% growth in July.
