AIR CARGO STRONGEST FIRST HALF-YEAR GROWTH SINCE 2017
On 28 July, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) released data for global air cargo markets for June showing a 9.9% improvement on pre-COVID-19 performance (June 2019). This pushed first half-year air cargo growth to 8%, its strongest first half performance since 2017 (when the industry posted 10.2% year-on-year growth).
According to the data published by IATA, global demand for June 2021, measured in cargo tonne-kilometers (CTKs), was up 9.9% compared to June 2019. Concerning regional performance, significant variations have been observed. Whilst European airlines contributed 1.6 percentage points (ppts) to the 9.9% growth rate in June, North American carriers contributed 5.9 ppts, Middle East carriers 2.1 ppts, African airlines 0.5 ppts and Asia-Pacific carriers 0.3 ppts. Latin American carriers did not support the growth, shaving 0.5 ppts off the total.
Overall capacity, measured in available cargo tonne-kilometers (ACTKs), remained constrained at 10.8% below pre-COVID-19 levels (June 2019) due to the ongoing grounding of passenger aircraft. Belly capacity was down 38.9% on June 2019 levels, partially offset by a 29.7% increase in dedicated freighter capacity.
Source: IATA