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News / 2023


July 2023 IATA Air Passenger Market Analysis 
Published September 5. IATA Economic Reports.

Air cargo demand stable


Highlights

  • Industry air cargo demand decreased by 0.8% year-on-year in July, reflecting the sustained improvement in cargo tonne-kilometers (CTKs) and the low base of CTKs in 2022.
  • Air cargo capacity, measured in available cargo tonne-kilometers (ACTKs), increased by 11.2%, primarily due to the continued restoration of belly cargo capacity during the summer season.
  • Global trade contracted for the third consecutive month, with manufacturing output and new export orders deteriorating. China's weak performance in production and exports is a concerning development for the global economy.
  • Inflation showed a mixed picture in July. The increase in US consumer prices picked up pace for the first time in 13 months, while both consumer and producer prices in China fell, suggesting a possible deflationary trend in the Chinese economy.
  • Asia Pacific airlines experienced their first year-on-year growth in cargo traffic since March 2022, driven by increased trade with other regions and significant market improvements within Asia.

African airlines report strong growth in cargo volumes

African airlines had the strongest performance in July 2023 with a 2.9% increase in cargo volumes - capacity was 11.0% above July 2022 levels. The Africa-Asia routes experienced significant cargo demand growth returning to double-digit growth of 10.3% YoY from -4.8% in June.


Global CTKs continued to improve in July

The global air cargo industry registered 20.7 billion cargo tonne-kilometers (CTKs) in July, extending its steady improvement since February. Year-on-year (YoY) industry CTKs narrowed the gap, now standing at 0.8% below July 2022 levels, while remaining 3.3% lower than their pre-pandemic level in 2019. The improved annual growth rate in global CTKs is also a result of growth stemming from a lower 2022 baseline.  
    Seasonally adjusted (SA) CTKs in July recorded a 0.7% YoY decline, marking a notable improvement of 2.7 percentage points (ppts) compared to the previous month (Chart 2). Due to the month-onmonth (MoM) decline in SA CTKs throughout 2022, the July 2023 CTKs closely resembled the levels seen in July 2022. Conversely, SA CTKs have been consistently rising since March 2023, with July posting a 0.2% increase over the previous month’s levels. Download the full report...