Global air cargo demand rose 7.7% year on year in September, outpacing capacity growth, but sharply higher fuel costs continued to put pressure on airline profitability, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
Demand growth, measured in cargo tonne-kilometres, accelerated from 4.4% in August. Capacity increased by 2.7%, lifting the global cargo load factor by 2.2 percentage points to 47.9%, IATA’s September market analysis showed.
African airlines recorded demand growth of 4.7% while reducing capacity by 1.2%. Their cargo load factor rose by 2.7 percentage points to 47%.
For the first nine months of the year, African carriers’ demand increased by 6.5%, against a 0.4% decline in capacity. The regional figures reflect airlines’ country of registration rather than the origin or destination of shipments.
“The challenge is cost. Jet fuel prices have more than doubled compared with a year ago, and yields have not kept pace,” said Marie Owens Thomsen, IATA’s senior vice-president for sustainability and chief economist.
“There is no shortage of goods to ship, but doing that profitably in the face of persistently high fuel prices has become more challenging.”
Jet fuel averaged $184.50 a barrel in September, up 17.5% from August and 103.4% year on year. Cargo yields, including surcharges, increased by 2% month on month and 25.9% year on year, according to the report.
Higher crude prices and constrained refined fuel supplies contributed to the increase. Disruption to Persian Gulf supplies and Middle Eastern export routes, alongside pressure on shipping and energy infrastructure, kept fuel costs elevated, IATA said.
International cargo demand rose 8.6% in September, with North American and Asia-Pacific airlines recording growth of 15.3% and 10%, respectively.
Across trade lanes, Asia-North America traffic increased by 17%, supported by shipments of semiconductors, servers and other equipment used in artificial intelligence infrastructure. Within-Asia demand grew 10.2%, while Europe-North America and Europe-Asia increased by 9.3% and 6%, respectively.
Middle East-linked routes remained under pressure despite growth in traffic carried by airlines registered in the region. Europe-Middle East demand declined by 18%, while Middle East-Asia fell 10.2%, marking a seventh consecutive month of contraction on both corridors.
The distinction reflected the continued disruption to the Middle East’s role as a connecting market, even as its airlines restored their own activity, according to IATA.
