Global air cargo demand jumps 7.7% in September: IATA

Global air cargo demand accelerated in September, rising 7.7% from a year earlier, the International Air Transport Association said in a statement. Demand on international operations grew 8.6%. Capacity grew more slowly, up 2.7% overall and 3.3% internationally.

The measure used is cargo tonne-kilometers (CTK) for demand and available cargo tonne-kilometers (ACTK) for capacity. September’s growth is faster than August’s 4.4%, which PortCalls reported at the end of September.

“Air cargo demand rose 7.7% year-on-year in September, with growth across all regions,” said Marie Owens Thomsen, IATA’s senior vice president for sustainability and chief economist. She said stronger global trade and manufacturing gave a supportive backdrop. She added that AI-related shipments helped drive another month of double-digit growth across the Pacific.

Owens Thomsen said the challenge is cost. Jet fuel prices have more than doubled compared with a year ago, she said, and yields have not kept pace. “There is no shortage of goods to ship, but doing that profitably in the face of persistently high fuel prices has become more challenging,” she said.

This story was originally published by PortCalls Asia. Read the full story at PortCalls Asia →