The cargo turnover of global civil aviation in February increased by 11.9% compared to February 2023 to 19.7 billion ton-km, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) reported. Demand for air cargo has been growing at double–digit rates for the third month in a row: in January it amounted to 18.4%, in December 2023 - by 10.8% compared to the same levels last year. Freight turnover on international lines increased by 12.4% year–on-year in February, with the fastest growth in traffic volumes in Africa (by 22%) and the Middle East (by 20.9%), and the lowest in North America (by 4.2%).
The supply in the air cargo market continued to decline slightly after the December peak: in February, the available capacity on the market amounted to 43.8 billion ton-km. Nevertheless, this is 13.4% more than a year ago, and 20.6% more than in February 2022. IATA notes that the increase in available cargo capacity is largely due to the return to service of a large number of passenger aircraft (an increase of 29.5% year-on-year), while, for example, the supply of cargo airlines to international destinations increased by only 3.2% year-on-year.
"The 11.9% increase in demand in February far outpaced the 0.9% increase in cross–border trade," stated IATA CEO Willie Walsh, commenting on the results of the freight industry. "Such a good start to 2024 could lead to demand exceeding the exceptionally high levels of early 2022." In his opinion, it also shows the good "resilience of air cargo transportation in the face of ongoing political and economic uncertainty."
