Air cargo demand bounced up month-over-month in October, reversing a brief contraction seen in the prior two months likely driven by the brief strike on the East and Gulf Coast ports and China’s Golden Week.
During the month, global cargo tonne-kilometers (CTKs) grew by 9.8 percent over the year prior, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), marking the 15th consecutive month of annual demand growth. For nine straight months from December 2023 to August 2024, this metric jumped at double-digit pace.
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Month-on-month demand increased by 5.7 percent after seasonal adjustments, bucking the 0.4 percent decline in September and a 0.2 percent dip in August.
In year-to-date terms, the industry’s air cargo demand in October surged 12.2 percent compared to 2023. Concurrently, the latest recorded CTK volume reached a new year-to-date record.
In October, the largest contributors to the industry’s annual CTK’s growth remained carriers from the Asia Pacific region, followed by North American ones, taking the second spot for the first time since August 2023.
Of the industry’s 9.8 percent year-over-year demand increase, Asia Pacific carriers contributed 46.1 percent and North American airlines contributed 26 percent, said the IATA, which represents some 330 airlines comprising over 80 percent of global air traffic.
Another market data provider, WorldACD, said Asia Pacific carriers generated an even higher 56 percent of the tonnage increases throughout the first 10 months of 2024.
The IATA attributed October’s increased growth from the North American carriers to the three-day port strike in the U.S., in that shippers moving freight via ocean sought to mitigate the risk by transporting some commodities by air.
Additionally, the Golden Week holiday in China, during which factories nationwide shut down from Oct. 1-7, may have further boosted demand for air freight handled by these carriers.
Air cargo capacity, measured in available cargo tonne-kilometers (ACTKs), increased by 5.9 percent compared to October 2023, still below the near-double-digit uptick in demand.
Internationally, available air cargo capacity escalated 7.2 percent, largely driven by an 8.5 percent increase in international belly capacity. Dedicated freighter capacity increased by 5.6 percent, the seventh consecutive month of growth with volumes nearing 2021 peak levels.