African airlines recorded 13.4% year-on-year drop in air cargo demand in March 2025, the biggest drop in the global geopolitical regions despite 4.4% surge in global demand, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has reported.
The latest IATA report on global air cargo markets for March this year reflected that the global demand when measured in cargo tonne-kilometers (CTK), attained a historic high in the month under review, with international operations growing by 5.5% year-on-year (y-o-y) just as total capacity grew by 4.3%, with international capacity rising by 6.1%.
According to the report’s data, while African carriers recorded 10.5% increase in available cargo capacity, the continent’s sharp decline in demand indicated a growing imbalance between capacity and utilization, signifying significant challenges in Africa’s air cargo sector.
The IATA report partly reads: “Total demand, measured in cargo tonne-kilometers (CTK), increased by 4.4% compared to March 2024 levels (+5.5% for international operations), a historic peak for March.
“Capacity, measured in available cargo tonne-kilometers (ACTK), expanded by 4.3% compared to March 2024 (+6.1% for international operations).
“African airlines saw a -13.4% year-on-year decrease in demand for air cargo in March, the slowest among the regions. Capacity increased by 10.5% year-on-year”, it added
The association attributed the global rise in demand to factors some factors, including businesses front-loading shipments ahead of U.S. tariff changes, falling jet fuel prices, and improving global industrial output, noting that Africa and the Middle East remain the only regions that recorded y-o-y decline in air cargo volumes, with the Middle East down by 3.2%.
Commenting on the report, IATA’s Director General, Willie Walsh, said: “March cargo volumes were strong… a historic peak for the month”, cautioning, however, that future demand could be impacted by unresolved trade tensions and tariff uncertainties.
A further analysis of the report’s findings showed that Africa’s underperformance occurred amidst broader global economic improvements as the global industrial production grew by 3.2% while global trade volumes grew by 2.9% y-o-y.
Also, inflation rates eased in major economies as the U.S. CPI fell to 2.4%, the EU averaged 2.5%, Japan’s rate decreased to 3.6%, and China’s deflation moderated to -0.1%.
The IATA’s report revealed that regionally, Asia-Pacific airlines led global growth with a 9.6% y-o-y rise in cargo demand and an 11.3% increase in capacity. North American carriers followed closely with a 9.5% demand increase and a 6.1% rise in capacity y-o-y while European airlines recorded a 4.5% y-o-y increase in demand, with capacity rising by 2.0%.
Similarly, Latin American carriers reported a 5.8% demand growth and a 4.7% increase in capacity y-o-y but in contrast, Middle Eastern airlines experienced a 3.2% decline in demand y-o-y , despite a 0.8% rise in capacity with experts attributing the downtown to a strong growth comparison with early 2024, driven by disruptions in Red Sea maritime freight.
