African airlines recorded a 4.7% year-on-year increase in air cargo demand during June 2026, extending the continent’s positive momentum even as available cargo capacity contracted by 7.1%, according to the latest figures released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The figures underscore the resilience of Africa’s air freight sector amid growing international trade flows and sustained demand for time-sensitive, high-value shipments, despite ongoing global geopolitical tensions and constrained cargo capacity on the continent.
Globally, air cargo demand rose by 8.5% compared to June 2025, while capacity increased by a more modest 4.4%, allowing demand to outpace available cargo space across most regions of the world. International cargo demand alone expanded by 9.6% year-on-year.
For African carriers, however, the story was different. While demand continued to strengthen, airlines operated with significantly less capacity than a year earlier, pushing the region’s cargo load factor up by 5.4 percentage points to 48.1%—one of the largest improvements among all global regions.
The performance comes as Africa continues to strengthen trade links with Asian markets. The Africa-Asia trade lane expanded by 0.9% in June, marking its 12th consecutive month of growth and underscoring steadily increasing commercial ties between the two regions.
Commenting on the global market, IATA Director General Willie Walsh said the industry’s strong first-half performance provides encouraging signs for the remainder of the year.
“Air cargo demand grew 8.5% year-on-year in June. While North America was the strongest contributor to growth, demand in all regions was in positive territory compared to last year,” Walsh said.
He added that “demand growth outpaced capacity at the global level and in all regions except Latin America and the Caribbean.”
According to Walsh, the industry’s expansion continues to outperform broader international trade.
“Demand also grew faster than global trade, supported by high-value technology products and urgent shipments. While this all gives strong reasons for optimism in the second half of 2026, risks remain, continuing hostilities in the Middle East and a renewed focus on tariffs by the US among them,” he said.
The latest data indicate that global trade expanded by 5.2% year-on-year during June, slower than the growth recorded in air cargo demand. This suggests businesses are increasingly relying on air freight for premium goods, technology products, and urgent deliveries, rather than on broad-based increases in merchandise trade.
Africa’s performance was surpassed only by North America, where carriers posted the strongest regional growth of 13.1%, followed by Asia-Pacific at 7.9%, Europe at 6.9% and the Middle East at 5.6%. Latin America and the Caribbean recorded the weakest regional growth at 3.5%.
The Middle East’s positive figures, however, were partly influenced by a low base effect after military conflict significantly disrupted operations in June 2025. Several Gulf-linked trade corridors remain under pressure, with Europe-Middle East cargo volumes declining by 41.1% and Middle East-Asia traffic falling 4.1%, both marking a fourth consecutive month of contraction.
By contrast, cargo flows across Asia continued to power global growth. The Asia-North America corridor expanded by an impressive 14.7%, recording its fifth consecutive month of growth, while Europe-Asia rose 7.1%, extending an uninterrupted expansion streak to 40 consecutive months. Within Asia, cargo demand increased by 7.2%, representing 32 straight months of growth.
Although Africa accounts for only 2.1% of global air cargo traffic, the latest figures suggest the continent is gradually strengthening its position in international logistics despite infrastructure constraints and limited cargo capacity.
The decline in available capacity may reflect fleet limitations, aircraft deployment decisions, or operational challenges, yet stronger aircraft utilisation indicates that airlines are successfully filling a greater proportion of available cargo space. Market conditions also received support from falling fuel costs. Jet fuel prices declined by 20% compared to May, although they remained 45.8% higher than June 2025 levels, continuing to place pressure on airline operating costs.
Meanwhile, global manufacturing activity remained broadly supportive of cargo demand. The Global Manufacturing Output Purchasing Managers’ Index eased slightly by 0.5 points to 53.0 in June, remaining comfortably above the 50-point threshold that signals expansion.
However, weakening export orders point to a more selective pattern of global trade. The New Export Orders Index remained below the neutral 50 level for a fourth consecutive month at 49.4, suggesting the continued strength in air cargo is being driven by specific high-value trade flows rather than broad-based export growth.
