The air cargo market has been closely watched to see if the strong demand growth seen in the first two months of the year would continue after the Lunar New Year holiday. Despite expectations of a slight slowdown, figures from data provider WorldACD suggest that demand is indeed on the rise in March, albeit not as robustly as before the holiday.
The latest data shows a 4% increase in global demand for the two weeks ending March 10 compared to the same period last year. This stabilization follows a surge in Asia Pacific volumes post-Lunar New Year in early February.
There had been concerns that the significant double-digit demand improvements recorded in the beginning of the year were due to a combination of the Red Sea shipping crisis and the rush before the Lunar New Year holiday. However, weekly comparisons show that total worldwide tonnages have remained relatively stable, with a slight increase leading up to week 10.
Sea-air demand and e-commerce are driving some of this growth, with air cargo tonnages from Dubai to Europe experiencing a significant increase. Other sea-air hubs like Bangkok and Colombo are also reporting strong demand to Europe.
E-commerce continues to play a significant role in driving air cargo demand, with Cathay Cargo noting a surge out of Hong Kong. The impact of e-commerce on the industry was further highlighted at the recent IATA World Cargo symposium, with projections suggesting that its share of total air cargo volume will continue to grow substantially in the coming years.
Consulting firm McKinsey predicts that cross-border e-commerce’s share of total air cargo volume will reach between 25-30% by 2027. This shift in industry operations highlights the importance of adapting to the changing landscape driven by e-commerce demand.
