Air cargo demand grows 4.4% in March on strong Asia-Pacific show

Total demand, measured in cargo tonne-kilometers (CTK), increased by 4.4 percent in Marc 2025 compared to March 2024 (+5.5 percent for international operations), a historic peak for March.

"Capacity, measured in available cargo tonne-kilometers (ACTK), expanded by 4.3 percent compared to March 2024 (+6.1 percent for international operations)," says an official release from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Willie Walsh, Director General, IATA says: "March cargo volumes were strong. It is possible that this is partly a front-loading of demand as some businesses tried to beat the well-telegraphed April 2 tariff announcement by the Trump administration. The uncertainty over how much of the April 2 proposals will be implemented may eventually weigh on trade. In the meantime, the lower fuel costs, which are also a result of the same uncertainty, are a short-term positive factor for air cargo. With the temporary pause on implementation, we hope that political leaders will be able to shift trade tensions to reliable agreements that can restore confidence in global supply chains."

Trade lane growth
The Europe-North America route was the busiest trade lane in March. The largest trade lane by market share, Asia-North America, also grew strongly, possibly encouraged by the front-loading of shipments ahead of the proposed increased tariffs. Europe-Middle East and Africa-Asia were the only trade lanes to decline in March, the update added.

March regional performance
Asia-Pacific airlines saw 9.6 percent year-on-year demand growth for air cargo in March, the strongest among the regions. Capacity increased by 11.3 percent year-on-year.

North American carriers saw a 9.5 percent year-on-year increase in demand and capacity increased by 6.1 percent year-on-year.

European carriers saw a 4.5 percent increase in demand while capacity increased two percent year-on-year.

Middle Eastern carriers saw a -3.2 percent year-on-year decrease in demand while capacity increased by 0.8 percent. "It’s possible the weakness in this market is due to year-on-year comparison with the strong growth at the start of 2024 resulting from disruption to the Red Sea maritime freight."

Latin American carriers saw 5.8 percent demand growth while capacity increased 4.7 percent.

African airlines saw a -13.4 percent year-on-year decrease in demand, the slowest among the regions. Capacity increased by 10.5 percent year-on-year.