According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), African airlines experienced a 17.0 per cent rise in cargo volumes in January.
This marks a notable improvement from December 2023, when performance was at 1.2 per cent.
The report highlighted that the carriers in the African region particularly saw growth on the Africa-Asia trade route.
“Capacity in January was 19.4 per cent above January 2023 levels,” IATA said.
The international aviation body then said, “in January, the Africa–Asia and Middle East–Europe trade lanes experienced exceptional YoY growth in international CTKs of 52.5 per cent and 46.1 per cent, respectively.”
CTK stands for Cargo tonne-kilometers, a metric used to gauge actual cargo traffic.
According to the report, IATA noted that North American Airlines had the lowest performance among all regions in January, with a 9.3 per cent year-on-year increase in cargo volumes.
Nevertheless, this marked an improvement compared to December (2.0 per cent).
“Carriers in the region benefitted from growth on the North America-Asia trade lane (+17.1 per cent) and North America-Europe trade lane (+3.5 per cent).
“Capacity increased by 3.8 per cent compared to January 2023,” it said.
IATA said Middle Eastern carriers had the strongest performance in January 2024, with a 25.9 per cent year-on-year increase in cargo volumes.
“This was a significant improvement from the previous month’s performance (+18.3 per cent). Carriers in the region benefited from growth in the Middle East–Asia (+29.5 per cent) and Middle East–Europe markets (+46.1 per cent).
“Capacity increased 17.1per cent compared to January 2023,” it said.
The data from IATA released for global air cargo markets in January showed a robust beginning to 2024.
From Willie Walsh, the director-general of IATA, air cargo demand increased by 18.4 per cent year-on-year in January, indicating a strong start to the year.
He noted that the e-commerce sector’s growth continues to contribute to the above-average trend in air cargo demand compared to trade and production growth since the last quarter of 2023.
“The counterweight to this good news is uncertainty over how China’s economic slowdown will unfold.
“This will be on the minds of air cargo executives meeting in Hong Kong next week for the IATA World Cargo Symposium with an agenda focused on digitalization, efficiency and sustainability.”
The report indicated a substantial increase in total demand, measured in cargo tonne-kilometres (CTKs), by 18.4 per cent compared to January 2023 levels (19.8 per cent for international operations).
This surge represented the highest annual growth in CTKs since the summer season of 2021.
Capacity, measured in available cargo tonne-kilometres (ACTKs), also rose by 14.6 per cent compared to January 2023 (18.2 per cent for international operations), primarily driven by the growth in belly capacity.
International belly capacity saw a significant increase of 25.8 per cent year-on-year, fueled by the strength of passenger markets.
The report highlighted that air cargo growth surpassed that of trade and production due to various factors in the operating environment.
