Air cargo demand returned to growth in April after recording a decline in March due to the Middle East conflict.
The latest statistics from IATA show that in April, air cargo traffic in cargo tonne km terms increased by 4% year on year, while capacity was down by 0.4% and the cargo load factor improved by 1.9 percentage points on last year to 46%.
The demand increase follows a 4.8% fall in cargo traffic in March caused by the Middle East conflict.
“Air cargo demand grew 4% year-on-year in April, driven by strong Asia-linked trade flows,” said IATA director general Willie Walsh.
“But this positive news masks a more complex operating environment. Severe disruption at major Gulf hubs due to the war in the Middle East continued to reshape trade routes and constrain capacity on key corridors.
“With dedicated freighters carrying much of the growth, air cargo is once again keeping supply chains moving amid trade disruptions.
“The coming months will test how well the sector can absorb continued geopolitical uncertainty and elevated operating costs.”
The ongoing impact of the conflict can be seen in the performance of airlines on a regional basis. Middle Eastern carriers registered an 18.2% year-on-year decrease in demand for air cargo in April, the weakest performance of all regions.
In contrast, Asia Pacific airlines noted a 10.5% year-on-year increase in air cargo demand in April, the strongest rise of all regions, and European airlines saw demand increase by 6%.
Elsewhere, North American carriers registered a 5% year-on-year increase in air cargo demand, Latin American and Caribbean carriers suffered a 2.8% decrease and African airlines saw a 7.7% year-on-year increase.
On trade lane performance, figures diverged across major trade lanes in April, IATA said.
“Africa-Asia led growth followed by Asia-Europe, with intra-Asia also holding strong on regional trade. In contrast, Gulf-linked corridors were severely disrupted by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East,” the airline association said.
Looking at other market indicators, IATA figures show that jet fuel prices rose sharply in April, up 121.1% year on year, alongside a 77.7% increase in crude oil prices.
Meanwhile, global manufacturing sentiment remained in growth territory in April, strengthening from March.
“The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose 1.9 points to 53.4, while the PMI for new export orders reached 50.2. With both indicators above the 50-point expansion threshold, conditions remain supportive for air cargo demand,” IATA said.
