The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has released data on global air cargo market performance for both the full year and December 2024, highlighting strong growth across key metrics.
Full-year demand, measured in cargo tonne-kilometres (CTK), rose by 11.3% compared to 2023, with international operations seeing an even higher increase of 12.2%. Notably, 2024 demand exceeded the record volumes set in 2021, reflecting a robust recovery in global trade and logistics.
Capacity also expanded, with available cargo tonne-kilometres (ACTK) rising by 7.4% year-on-year, including a 9.6% increase for international operations. However, despite this growth, full-year yields were 1.6% lower than in 2023, though they remained 39% higher than pre-pandemic levels in 2019.
December 2024 continued the positive momentum, with global demand up 6.1% from December 2023, and international demand growing by 7.0%. Capacity for the month increased by 3.7% overall and 5.2% for international markets.
Cargo yields saw a notable 6.6% year-on-year rise and remained 53.4% higher than in December 2019, underscoring the sector’s sustained strength in the face of shifting market conditions.
Willie Walsh, IATA’s director general, said: “Air cargo was the standout performer in 2024 with airlines moving more air cargo than ever before. Importantly, it was a year of profitable growth. Demand, up 11.3% year-on-year, was boosted by particularly strong e-commerce and various ocean shipping restrictions. This combined with airspace restrictions which limited capacity on some key long-haul routes to Asia helped to keep yields at exceptionally high levels. While average yields continued to soften from peaks in 2021-2022 they averaged 39% higher than 2019.”
Looking to 2025, Walsh said that IATA estimates growth to moderate to 5.8%, aligned with historical performance: “Economic fundamentals point to another good year for air cargo – with oil prices on a downward trajectory and trade continuing to grow. There is no doubt, however, that the air cargo industry will be challenged to adapt to unfolding geopolitical shifts.
“The first week of the Trump administration demonstrated its strong interest in using tariffs as a policy tool that could bring a double whammy for air cargo – boosting inflation and deflating trade.”
Regional performance
In 2024, IATA claims the Asia-Pacific region led global air cargo demand growth with a 14.5% year-on-year increase, supported by an 11.3% rise in capacity. December saw a more moderate 8.4% demand increase, with capacity expanding by 6.3%.
Middle Eastern airlines also experienced strong growth, with demand rising 13% for the year, though December figures were more subdued at 3.3%.
Similarly, Latin American carriers reported a 12.6% annual increase, with December demand surging 10.9% – the highest among all regions – while capacity grew 8.4%.
European carriers saw an 11.2% demand increase in 2024, with capacity up 7.8%, though December’s growth was slower at 5.1%.
African airlines recorded 8.5% annual demand growth, though they were the only region to experience a December decline (-0.9%), despite a 13.6% rise in capacity for the year.
Meanwhile, North American carriers posted the lowest annual demand growth at 6.6%, with capacity up 3.4%, and December figures showing a 5.3% demand increase and a 2.1% rise in capacity.
In terms of trade lane growth, IATA claims that international routes experienced exceptional traffic levels for the 17th consecutive month with a 7% year-on-year increase in December. This can be attributed to airlines benefiting from rising e-commerce demand in the US and Europe amid ongoing capacity limits in ocean shipping.
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