KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 8 — Asia-Pacific airlines recorded a 10.3 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) growth in air cargo demand in November 2025, while capacity increased by 8.4 per cent y-o-y during the same period, said the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
Global air cargo demand grew 5.5 per cent y-o-y in November, boosted by shippers prioritising timely delivery in the lead-up to the year-end holiday season.
Its director general Willie Walsh said strong emerging market demand and selective growth in the Middle East more than made up for the softness in the Americas amid ongoing adjustment to the new United States (US) tariff regime.
“Globally, the fourth quarter for air cargo was resilient as strategic re-routing of trade shaped performance across key markets. The strong end for 2025 bodes well for the air cargo industry as it enters the new year,” he said in a statement released by the Geneva-based IATA on Wednesday.
Several factors should be noted in the operating environment. This includes the 3.2 per cent y-o-y global goods trade growth in October; jet fuel prices rising 5.9 per cent in November despite falling crude prices, driven by refinery disruptions; the European Union restrictions on Russian-derived products and limited spare refining capacity, which pushed crack spreads close to double last year’s levels.
It also noted that global manufacturing sentiment strengthened in November, with the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) rising for the fourth consecutive month to reach 51.17.
“New export orders improved slightly to 49.87, but remained below the 50-point expansion threshold, reflecting ongoing caution amid tariff uncertainty,” IATA said.
Total cargo traffic market share by carriers in terms of cargo tonne-kilometres (CTK) is as follows: Asia-Pacific (34.3 per cent), Europe (21.5 per cent), North America (25.7 per cent), the Middle East (13.6 per cent), Latin America and the Caribbean (2.9 per cent), and Africa (2.0 per cent).
Meanwhile, total demand measured in CTK rose by 5.5 per cent in November 2025 compared with a year earlier (+6.9 per cent for international operations). Capacity, measured in available cargo tonne-kilometres, rose by 4.7 per cent versus November 2024 (+6.5 per cent for international operations).
