Aviation
African Airlines lead global cargo growth with 13.3% surge in May – IATA
African airlines recorded the strongest air cargo demand growth of any region in the world in May 2026, outperforming global peers as expanding trade and resilient demand along the Africa–Asia corridor continued to boost the continent’s aviation sector.
According to the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) latest Air Cargo Market report, African carriers posted a 13.3 per cent year-on-year increase in cargo demand in May, more than double the 6.0 per cent global growth recorded during the same period.
Despite the strong demand, cargo capacity among African airlines rose by just 1.3 per cent, highlighting continued pressure on available freight space.
“African airlines saw a 13.3 per cent year-on-year increase in demand for air cargo in May, the strongest performance of all regions. Capacity increased by 1.3 per cent year-on-year,” IATA said.
Globally, total air cargo demand, measured in cargo tonne-kilometres (CTK), increased by 6.0 per cent compared with May 2025, while international cargo demand rose 6.5 per cent. Total cargo capacity, measured in available cargo tonne-kilometres (ACTK), grew by 1.9 per cent globally and 2.8 per cent for international operations.
IATA attributed the overall growth to stronger global trade and manufacturing activity, despite continuing geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainty.
Global trade expanded by 5.0 per cent year-on-year in May, marking the 25th consecutive month of annual growth, while manufacturing activity remained in expansion territory.
However, the association noted that export demand remained relatively weak. Although the Global Manufacturing Output Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 53.5, the New Export Orders Index remained below the 50-point threshold at 49.6, suggesting that cargo growth was concentrated in specific trade lanes rather than reflecting broad-based export expansion.
North American airlines recorded the second-fastest cargo demand growth, with volumes increasing 10.5 per cent, followed by Asia-Pacific (8.0 per cent) and Europe (6.7 per cent). Latin American and Caribbean carriers posted a modest 1.9 per cent increase.
The Middle East was the only region to record a decline, with cargo demand falling 8.9 per cent and capacity dropping 9.2 per cent as regional conflict continued to disrupt cargo operations and trade flows.
Across major trade routes, the Asia–North America corridor recorded the strongest cargo growth in May, followed by Africa–Asia, intra-Europe and Europe–Asia. In contrast, Gulf-linked trade corridors remained significantly affected by the conflict in the Middle East.
Jet fuel prices declined by 16.3 per cent month-on-month in May, easing operating costs for airlines, although prices remained 93.5 per cent higher than a year earlier.
The latest figures extend Africa’s strong performance in global air cargo markets throughout 2026. African airlines recorded demand growth of 18.2 per cent in January, 21 per cent in February, 7.0 per cent in March and 7.7 per cent in April, underscoring sustained momentum driven largely by growing trade volumes between Africa and Asia.
The upward trend also reflects gains recorded toward the end of 2025, when African carriers posted double-digit cargo growth in both November and December, reinforcing the continent’s emergence as one of the fastest-growing regions in the global air freight market.