IATA data shows that air cargo traffic increased by a 2023 high of 8.3% year on year in November, although the improvement also reflects a weak compression period in 2022.
The association said that the November increase in cargo tonne kms (CTK) was the fourth monthly improvement in a row and was the biggest increase in two years.
Capacity, meanwhile, increased by 13.7% against last year and as a result of supply growing faster than demand the cargo load factor fell 2.3 percentage points to 46.7%.
The increase in capacity is attributed to additional belly space as international passenger markets continue their post-Covid recovery.
IATA added that compared with pre-Covid 2019, demand is down 2.5% while capacity is up 4.1%.
IATA director general Willie Walsh said: “November air cargo demand was up 8.3% on 2022 – the strongest year-on-year growth in almost two years.
“That is a doubling of October’s 3.8% increase and a fourth month of positive market development.
“It is shaping up to be an encouraging year-end for air cargo despite the significant economic concerns that were present throughout 2023 and continue on the horizon.”
Air cargo demand indicators again provided a mixed outlook for cargo demand.
IATA said that major purchasing managers’ indices continued to hover just below the 50 mark – indicating downward expectations – although they had improved on October’s levels.
Cross-border trade increased for the third month in a row and inflation in major economies continued to soften.
Looking at regional performance, Asia Pacific-based carriers registered a 13.8% increase in demand in November which was “significantly above” the previous month’s growth of 7.6%.
Carriers based in North America had the weakest demand growth in November with a 1.8% increase.
“This was, nonetheless, a significant improvement in performance compared to October’s 1.8% contraction,” IATA said.
European carriers’ volumes increased by 6.7% in November, while Middle Eastern carriers performed best with a 13.5% year-on-year increase.
Latin American carriers reported a 4.2% increase and African airlines registered a 3.9% improvement.
Xeneta doubts air cargo demand improvements will be long lived
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