African airlines’ air cargo volumes declined marginally by 0.1% in September 2023, despite the strong growth of demand on the Africa-Asia trade lane, which was up 12.8%. This was an improvement in performance compared to August (-3.5%). 

Meanwhile, capacity for airlines on the continent was 2.7% above September 2022 levels, the latest figures from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) show. The global air cargo markets’ data released for September 2023 shows continuing demand recovery.

The IATA numbers indicate that global demand, measured in cargo tonne-kilometres (CTKs), increased by 1.9%, compared to September 2022 levels. Capacity, measured in available cargo tonne-kilometres (ACTKs), was up 12.1%, compared to September 2022. 

“Growth was largely related to international belly capacity, which rose 31.5% year-on-year, as airlines scaled up operations to meet peak northern summer travel season demand,” they added.

In a statement released this week, IATA said in September, both the manufacturing output Purchasing Managers Index or PMI (49.7) and new export orders PMI (47.7) saw a slight improvement, compared to the previous month. 

However, IATA stressed these statistics remained below the critical 50-point threshold, indicating a continuing but slightly slower annual decline in global manufacturing production and exports.

“Air cargo eked out modest growth (1.9%) in September, despite falling trade volumes and high jet fuel prices. That clearly shows the strength of air cargo’s value proposition. With the key export order and manufacturing PMIs hovering near positive territory, we can be cautiously optimistic for a strong year-end peak season,” said IATA’s director general, Willie Walsh.