World Air Cargo Soars, Gulf Route Dragged into War

Illustration. Photo: Tom Antony/Pexel

JAKARTA - Global air cargo demand rose 6 percent in May. Air freight flows are still strong, but growth is uneven. The route connected to the Middle East actually weakened due to the impact of the war.

Launching Anadolu Agency, Tuesday, June 30, citing data from the International Air Transport Association or IATA, total air cargo demand rose 6 percent compared to May 2025. For international routes, the increase reached 6.5 percent.

The demand is measured by cargo ton-kilometers or CTK. This size calculates the volume of goods transported and the distance traveled.

Transport capacity also increased, but more slowly. Globally, capacity measured by available cargo ton-kilometers or ACTK increased by 1.9 percent. For international routes, capacity increased by 2.8 percent. ACTK shows the available cargo transport.

IATA Director General Willie Walsh said air cargo demand in May grew strongly in Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, and North America. All of these regions recorded growth above trend.

However, the Middle East is moving in the opposite direction. Airlines in the region recorded a combined contraction of 8.9 percent year-on-year. According to Walsh, the impact of the war is still weighing on their performance.

Africa recorded the highest growth. Air cargo demand in the region rose 13.3 percent, while capacity only grew 1.3 percent.

North America also accelerated. Demand rose 10.5 percent and capacity increased 2.4 percent. Asia-Pacific recorded an 8 percent growth in demand, with capacity up 5.1 percent.

Europe recorded a 6.7 percent increase in demand and 2.2 percent capacity. Latin America and the Caribbean grew more slowly, with demand up 1.9 percent. Capacity rose faster, by 5.6 percent.

The Middle East was the weakest region. Demand fell 8.9 percent and capacity fell 9.2 percent. The Gulf region is still a pressure point in this report because its two main corridors weakened sharply.

IATA noted that global trade rose 5 percent year-on-year. The growth continued for 25 consecutive months. Global manufacturing output also improved. The purchasing managers' index for manufacturing output rose to 53.5 in May.

However, the recovery is not even. The new export order index is still below the threshold of 50, namely 49.6. This means that air cargo growth is more supported by certain trade flows, not the broad global export recovery.

Jet fuel prices fell 16.3 percent compared to the previous month. However, the price is still 93.5 percent higher than the same period last year. Energy costs fell, but the pressure has not completely disappeared.

On the main trade route, the Asia-North America route recorded the highest growth, namely 19.9 percent. After that, Africa-Asia rose 14.1 percent, intra-Europe 11.5 percent, and Europe-Asia 10 percent.

Conversely, the corridor connected to the Gulf is still under pressure. European-Middle East traffic fell 19.8 percent. Middle East-Asia traffic fell 16.5 percent.

Walsh said the strong performance in May, coupled with macroeconomic factors, gave cautious optimism for the air cargo outlook for the rest of the year. The airline is also continuing to adjust operations to changing demand patterns and supply chain needs.