Pictured: Willie Walsh, Director General of IATA
The growth measured in cargo tonne kilometres (CTK) built on March’s strong performance with total demand up 5.8% and international demand increasing by 6.5%.
Capacity measured in available CTK increased by 6.3% in total and 6.9% for international operations.
The market was affected by world industrial production rising by 3.2% in March, with air cargo growth outpacing the global goods trade with an increase of 6.5% over the previous month.
Jet fuel prices fell by 21.2% year-on-year and 4.1% month-on-month, the third consecutive monthly decrease.
The global manufacturing PMI rose to 50.5 in April, signalling the fourth consecutive month of growth.
The PMI for new export orders fell 2.8 points to 47.2, below the 50 mark which indicates growth.
Willie Walsh, Director General of IATA says that seasonal demand for fashion and consumer goods, frontloading ahead of US tariffs and lower jet fuel prices gave air cargo a boost.
He said: “While April brought good news, stresses in world trade are no secret. Shifts in trade policy, particularly in the US, are already reshaping demand and export dynamics. Airlines will need to remain flexible as the situation develops over the coming months.”
Latin American carriers led growth at 10.1%, followed by Asia Pacific at 10%.
African airlines grew by 4.7%, followed by North American airlines at 4.2%, European airlines at 2.9% and Middle Eastern airlines at 2.3%.
All international trade lanes grew in April except Middle East-Europe, Africa-Asia and intra-Europe.
Europe-Asia, which represents 20.5% of the market, had the largest year-on-year growth at 11.3%, the 26th consecutive month of growth.
Intra-Asia had the next highest growth at 10%, followed by Europe-North America at 9.6%.
Middle East-Asia grew by 6.7% and Asia North America, which represents 24.9% of the market, grew by 1.9%.
