Air cargo traffic between Africa and Asia declined by 14.7% year on year in July, marking the trade lane’s second consecutive month of contraction.
The International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) latest market analysis showed that Africa-Asia was among the weakest major air cargo corridors during the month.
African airlines recorded a 1.1% year-on-year increase in cargo demand, the weakest growth of all regions. Capacity expanded by 4.1%, outpacing demand, while the region’s cargo load factor stood at 45.8%.
Globally, air cargo demand, measured in cargo tonne-kilometres, increased by 3.9% compared with July 2025. International demand rose by 4.7%.
Worldwide capacity increased by 1.7%, while the global cargo load factor reached 46%.
North American carriers recorded the strongest regional performance, with demand increasing by 4.8%. European airlines posted growth of 4.4%, followed by Asia-Pacific and Latin American and Caribbean carriers at 4.1% each.
Middle Eastern airlines recorded demand growth of 1.7%, while capacity expanded by 4%.
IATA said performance varied significantly across major trade lanes. Asia–North America recorded the strongest growth at 9.2%, followed by intra-Asian traffic at 6.1% and Europe–Asia at 3.1%.
However, conflict in the Middle East continued to disrupt Gulf-linked corridors. Europe–Middle East cargo demand declined by 16.1%, while Middle East–Asia traffic fell by 14.1%.
IATA Senior Vice-President for Sustainability and Chief Economist Marie Owens Thomsen said Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America accounted for more than 90% of the overall increase in global demand.
“Dedicated freighters gained market share as belly-hold traffic declined, possibly reflecting demand for larger or specialist shipments and the operational flexibility that freighters can provide,” she said.
The outlook remained broadly positive, supported by manufacturing activity, export orders and global trade, IATA said. However, it warned that higher fuel prices, geopolitical tensions and tariff uncertainty remained risks.
Jet fuel prices increased by 12.2% month on month in July and were 56.9% higher than a year earlier.
