The International Air Transport Association (Iata), which is the global representative body of the airline industry, has reported that the air cargo sector saw an improvement in its performance during May this year. Although global air cargo demand in May was 8.3% down in year-on-year (y-o-y) terms, this was still an improvement on the y-o-y decline of 9.1% recorded in April.

“May offered positive news for air cargo, most notably because of the easing of some [Covid-19] Omicron restrictions in China,” highlighted Iata director-general Willie Walsh. “On a seasonably adjusted basis, we saw growth (0.3%) after two months of decline. The return of Asian production as Covid-19 measures eased, particularly in China, will support demand for air cargo. And the strong rebound in passenger traffic has increased belly capacity, although not always in the markets where the capacity crunch is most critical. But uncertainty in the overall economic situation will need to be carefully watched.”

Air cargo capacity in May was up overall by 2.7% in y-o-y terms, but international capacity jumped by 5.7%. This more than compensated for the 0.7% y-o-y capacity decline seen in April.

China’s easing of anti-Covid lockdowns led to a slight increase in trade activity. Other emerging regions also contributed to growth, through stronger trade flows. However, the number of new export orders declined everywhere except China; export orders are a leading indicator for air cargo demand (and world trade in general). Europe-serving air cargo capacity continued to be constrained by the Russo-Ukrainian War, as several key air cargo operators were based in these two countries.

Of Iata’s regions, the strongest performer was Latin America, which saw air cargo volumes increase by 13.8% y-o-y in May. Air cargo capacity in this region jumped 33.3%, also y-o-y. “Airlines in this region have shown optimism by introducing new services and capacity, and in some cases investing in additional aircraft for air cargo in the coming months,” said Iata.

The worst-performing region was Europe, which saw a y-o-y fall in cargo volumes of 14.6%. The main cause was the war in Ukraine.

The second-best performing region was Africa, with a y-o-y decline in May of just 1.5%. However, this represented a significant month-on-month fall: in April the region had recorded y-o-y growth of 6.3%. North America came next, with a y-o-y fall of 5.7% in May, largely owing to subdued demand on the Asia-North America routes. The Asia-Pacific itself was in fourth place, with a y-o-y drop of 6.6%; however, this was a major improvement over the 15.8% y-o-y decline in April.

The Middle East recorded a y-o-y fall of 11.6%. “Significant benefits from traffic being redirected to avoid flying over Russia failed to materialise,” reported Iata. “This was likely due to supply chain issues in Asia.”