African Airlines Air Cargo Volume Increases to 19.4% In January 2024

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has released data for the global air cargo markets for January 2024 which shows a strong start. The result was especially positive as “African airlines saw their air cargo volumes increase by 17.0% in January 2024, much improved compared to December’s performance (-1.2%). Carriers in the region benefitted from strong growth on the Africa-Asia trade lane. Capacity in January was 19.4% above January 2023 levels.”

According to IATA, globally “total demand, measured in Cargo Tonne-Kilometers (CTKs*), increased by 18.4% compared to January 2023 levels (19.8% for international operations)” while “capacity, measured in Available Cargo Tonne-Kilometres (ACTKs), was up 14.6% compared to January 2023 (18.2% for international operations).”

Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General said: “Air cargo demand was up 18.4% year-on-year in January. This is a strong start to the year. In particular, the booming e-commerce sector is continuing to help air cargo demand to trend above growth in both trade and production 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.”