GLOBAL air cargo demand, measured in cargo tonne-kilometres (CTKs), fell 3.4% year-on-year (y-o-y) in June, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said. 

The association said demand also slid 8.1% y-o-y in the first half of 2023 (1H2023). 

“However, demand in June was only 2.4% below pre-pandemic levels in June 2019,” it said in a statement today. 

IATA attributed the lower demand to the decline in global manufacturing production and exports, where both the manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) and new export orders PMI fell below the critical threshold of 50 in June at 49.2 and 47.1, respectively.

“Global cross-border trade decreased by 2.4% y-o-y in May, reflecting the cooling demand environment and challenging macroeconomic conditions. 

“The difference between the annual growth rates of air cargo and the global goods trade narrowed to -2.6 percentage points in May, representing the smallest gap since January last year,” it said. 

However, IATA said the gap still suggests the air cargo industry continues to suffer from the slowdown in global trade. 

It said air cargo capacity, as measured by available CTKs, rose 9.7% against June last year, which was a slower rate compared with the double-digit growth recorded between March and May, reflecting strategic capacity adjustments airlines are making amid a weakened demand environment. 

“Capacity for the 1H2023 was up 9.9% y-o-y and is now 3.7% above June 2019 (pre-pandemic) levels,” it said. 

Asia-Pacific airlines saw their air cargo volumes decrease by 3.6% y-o-y in June, mainly owing to weak demand on within-Asia markets, although the Asia-North America trade lane saw improved performance. 

“Looking at 1H 2023, cargo demand was down 6.5% y-o-y against a 27.0% rise in capacity,” said IATA.

Moving forward, IATA director-general Willie Walsh said the association remains hopeful the difficult trading conditions for air cargo will moderate as inflation eases in major economies. 

“This, in turn, could encourage the central banks to loosen the money supply, which could stimulate greater economic activity,” he added. – Bernama, August 8, 2023.