Demand measured in cargo tonne kilometres (CTK) was up 11.9% year-on-year in February and at 12.4% for international operations, with all regions reporting double-digit growth except North America.
Capacity measured in available CTK (ACTK) increased by 13.4% in total and 16% for international operations due to belly capacity rising 29.5% to cater for rising passenger traffic.
Willie Walsh, Director General of IATA, says, “February’s demand growth of 11.9% far outpaced the 0.9% expansion in cross-border trade. This strong start for 2024 could see demand surpass the exceptionally high levels of early 2022. It also shows air cargo’s strong resilience in the face of continuing political and economic uncertainties.”
Factors affecting performance include the manufacturing output Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) climbing to 51.2, indicating expansion, and the new export orders PMI rising to 49.4, remaining below the 50 threshold that would indicate growth.
Inflation was 2.8% in both the European Union and Japan, and 3.2% in the USA, and after four months of deflation, China reported 0.7% of inflation, a positive development following concerns about an economic slowdown.
Airlines in Asia-Pacific registered 11.9% growth in February, down from growth of 24.3% in January, which IATA says is probably because of Lunar New Year celebrations.
North America was the weakest region with growth of 4.2% with North America-Europe trade up 5.2% and Asia-North America up 3.9%.
European demand was up 14.6% in February with intra-European air cargo posting its strongest performance in three years with 24.5% growth.
Demand in the Middle East was up 20.9% with the Middle East-Europe market growing 39.3% and the Middle East-Asia lane up 21.9%.
Latin American carriers grew by 13.7% in February.
Africa had the strongest growth of any region at 22% with intra-African trade increasing by 42.3%.