The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has released its global air cargo market report for May 2025.
In the fifth month of the year, total demand as measured in cargo tonne-kilometers (CTK) was up by 2.2 percent compared to May 2024 levels.
Capacity in available cargo tonne-kilometers (ACTK), on the other hand, rose by two percent from where it was in May of last year.
IATA director-general Willie Walsh said of these increases: “Air cargo demand globally grew 2.2 percent in May, and that is encouraging news as a 10.7 percent drop in traffic on the Asia to North America trade lane illustrated the dampening effect of shifting US trade policies. Even as these policies evolve, already we can see the air cargo sector’s well-tested resilience helping shippers to accommodate supply chain needs to flexibly hold back, re-route, or accelerate deliveries.”
Mitigating factors
IATA pointed out that the following factors in the global operating environment were taken into consideration for the report:
Year-on-year, world industrial production rose 2.6 percent in April 2025, while air cargo volumes grew 6.8 percent over the same period, outpacing global goods trade growth of 3.8 percent;
Jet fuel prices in May 2025 were 18.8 percent lower than the previous year and 4.3 percent below the previous month; and
Global manufacturing contracted in May, with the PMI falling to 49.1, below the 50 mark that signals growth. New export orders also remained in negative territory at 48, reflecting pressure from recent U.S. trade policy changes.
Performance by region in May 2025
- Asia-Pacific airlines saw 8.3% year-on-year demand growth for air cargo in May, the strongest growth of all regions. Capacity increased by 5.7% year-on-year.
- North American carriers saw a -5.8% year-on-year decrease in growth for air cargo in May, the slowest growth of all regions. Capacity decreased by -3.2% year-on-year.
- European carriers saw 1.6% year-on-year demand growth for air cargo in May. Capacity increased 1.5% year-on-year.
- Middle Eastern carriers saw 3.6% year-on-year increase in demand for air cargo in May. Capacity increased by 4.2% year-on-year.
- Latin American carriers saw a 3.1% year-on-year increase in demand growth for air cargo in May. Capacity increased 3.5% year-on-year.
- African airlines saw a 2.1% year-on-year decrease in demand for air cargo in May. Capacity increased by 2.7% year-on-year
With regard to trade lane growth, a significant decrease in the Asia-North America trade lane was expected and realised as the effect of front-loading faded (moving goods to market in advance of tariffs coming into effect) and changes to the de-minimis exemption on small package shipments (particularly those associated with e-commerce) were enforced.
As cargo flows reorganised, several route areas responded with surprising growth.
