Measured in cargo tonne kilometres (CTK), demand was up 2.9% in February compared to 2021 and when factoring in the Lunar New Year, the first two months were up 2.7%.
Capacity increased by 12.5% in February as Covid-19 travel restrictions were relaxed, combined with fewer flight cancellations and winter weather operational disruptions.
IATA noted several factors affecting demand including high inflation, falling export orders and the zero-Covid policy in China and Hong Kong causing flight cancellations due to labour shortages.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had little impact on February’s results but the effects will be noticeable in the March figures.
Willie Walsh, Director General of IATA says: “Demand for air cargo continued to expand despite growing challenges in the trading environment. That is not likely to be the case in March as the economic consequences of the war in Ukraine take hold. Sanction-related shifts in manufacturing and economic activity, rising oil prices and geopolitical uncertainty will take their toll on air cargo’s performance.”
Asia Pacific was up 3% in February and capacity increased 15.5% compared to 2021 but it remains significantly below pre-pandemic levels. The region is being affected by the zero-Covid policy in Hong Kong and China.
North America posted 6.1% growth due to manufacturing in China being ramped up following the end of the Lunar New Year.
Growth in Europe slowed to 2.2% partly due to the war in Ukraine. Seasonally adjusted demand on the Europe-Asia route was most badly by the conflict, falling 2%.
The Middle East was down 5.3% due to weak demand on Middle East-Asia and Middle East-North America routes. It is likely to benefit as cargo is re-routed to avoid Russia.
Latin America was up 21.2% helped by airlines coming out of bankruptcy procedures.
In Africa, volumes were up 4.6% and capacity increased by 8.2%.