News
Global air cargo volumes continue to trend upwards at a strong pace. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), industry-wide cargo ton-kilometers (CTKs) grew by 12.0% in April compared to pre-crisis values in April 2019. The industry is supported by a strong economic rebound as well as favorable supply chain dynamics, notably very low inventory levels and more competitive pricing relative to container shipping in recent months.
This solid cargo growth performance this month was primarily driven by North American airlines (7.5 percentage points out of the 12.0% growth rate). But all the regions outside Latin America contributed positively to the growth outcome.
In April, industry-wide available cargo ton-kilometers (ACTKs) were 9.7% below their levels of April 2019. This was the third consecutive month of improvement, but not enough. While this is not to the same extend as container trade, the lack of capacity creates some headwinds for demand, as has been the case since the start of the crisis.
Moreover, it also means cargo load factors continue to trend close to record levels. The industry-wide cargo load factor was 57.8% in April, up 11.2 percentage points versus April 2019. International load factors were at a record-high level in all regions except Latin America.
As air cargo rates broadly follow the trend in load factors, they were up around 85% compared to April 2019 but 3% below April 2020 (including fuel and other surcharges). Both rates and volumes carried
