The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has released its “data for January 2025 global air cargo markets.” The data highlighted that “total demand, measured in cargo tonne-kilometers (CTK), rose by 3.2% compared to January 2024 levels (3.6% for international operations)”, while “capacity, measured in available cargo tonne-kilometers (ACTK), increased by 6.8% compared to January 2024.”
According to IATA, “African airlines saw a 3.4% year-on-year decrease in demand for air cargo in January. Capacity increased by 5.4% year-on-year.”
Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General said: “January marked 18 consecutive months of growth for air cargo, but the month’s 3.2% year-on-year growth is a moderation from double-digit peaks in 2024. Similarly, yields, while still above January 2024 levels, saw a 9.9% decline from December as cargo load factors also declined by an average of 1.5 percentage points.”
The IATA DG stated that while external factors such as trade growth, declining fuel costs and expanding e-commerce remain positive for air cargo, “it is important to closely watch the evolution of market conditions at this time. In particular, the wild card is the potential for tariff-driven trade policies from the US Trump Administration. Fortunately, the air cargo industry is well practiced at dealing with shifts in the operating environment.”
Air Cargo Market in Detail
| January 2025 (%year-on-year) | World Share *1 | CTK | ACTK | CLF (%-pt) *2 | CLF (level) *3 |
| Total Market | 100% | 3.2% | 6.8% | -1.5% | 43.9% |
| Africa | 2.0% | -3.4% | 5.4% | -3.6% | 39.5% |
| Asia Pacific | 34.2% | 7.5% | 10.9% | -1.4% | 43.3% |
| Europe | 21.5% | 1.3% | 3.5% | -1.2% | 53.8% |
| Latin America | 2.9% | 11.2% | 10.6% | 0.2% | 33.5% |
| Middle East | 13.6% | -8.4% | -1.2% | -3.2% | 40.8% |
| North America | 25.8% | 5.3% | 7.5% | -0.9% | 41.9% |
(*1) % of industry CTKs in 2024 (*2) Year-on-year change in load factor (*3) Load factor level
| Trade Lane | YoY growth | Notes | Market share of industry* |
| Asia-North America | +6.1% | 15 consecutive months of growth | 24.4% |
| Europe-Asia | +3.2% | 23 consecutive months of growth | 20.5% |
| Middle East-Europe | -7.3% | 5.7% | |
| Middle East-Asia | -3.0% | 7.3% | |
| Within Asia | +7.6% | 15 consecutive months of growth | 7.0% |
| North America-Europe | +9.7% | 12 consecutive months of growth | 13.3% |
| Africa-Asia | -26.1% | 1.4% |
*Share is based on full-year 2024 CTKs.