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Africa’s air cargo market recorded a 4.7 per cent year-on-year increase in demand in June 2026, even as airlines operating across the continent cut available cargo capacity by 7.1 per cent, according to the latest monthly market analysis by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
The performance placed African carriers among the regions to record positive cargo growth during the month, although the continent’s expansion remained below the global average of 8.5 per cent.
IATA’s June 2026 Air Cargo Market Analysis showed that global demand, measured in cargo tonne-kilometres (CTK), increased by 8.5 per cent compared with June 2025, while international demand grew by 9.6 per cent.
At the same time, global cargo capacity, measured in available cargo tonne-kilometres (ACTK), increased by 4.4 per cent, or 4.9 per cent for international operations.
The disparity between demand and capacity growth resulted in a 1.7 percentage-point improvement in the global cargo load factor to 46.9 per cent.
For Africa, the stronger demand combined with reduced capacity produced a particularly significant improvement in utilisation. The continent’s cargo load factor rose by 5.4 percentage points to 48.1 per cent.
Africa accounted for 2.1 per cent of global industry cargo tonne-kilometres in 2025, according to IATA.
Despite the capacity constraints facing African carriers, the continent’s trade relationship with Asia continued to show resilience.
IATA reported that cargo traffic on the Africa–Asia trade lane increased by 0.9 per cent in June, extending the corridor’s growth streak to 12 consecutive months.
Although the monthly increase was modest compared with some of the world’s major cargo corridors, the sustained expansion highlights the importance of Asia to Africa’s international air freight market.
The Africa–Asia route accounted for 1.3 per cent of global industry cargo traffic.
The continued growth of the corridor comes against a backdrop of rising commercial ties between African and Asian economies, with air freight playing an important role in the movement of high-value, time-sensitive and perishable goods.
