Global Air Cargo Grows 4.6% Through August Despite Fuel Price Increase

Global air cargo posted growth of 4.6% through August 2026, according to Transporte XXI, driven by strong demand and improved load factors, factors that allowed airlines to partially offset the rise in fuel prices, according to IATA data. In its specific report on August, Mundo Marítimo noted that global demand, measured in cargo tonne-kilometers (CTKs), grew 4.4% year-on-year, with international operations up 5.3%, while available capacity (ACTKs) contracted 0.1% year-on-year.

According to the regional breakdown released by IATA and cited by Mundo Marítimo, Latin American and Caribbean carriers led growth with a 5.1% year-on-year increase in CTKs in August, while their capacity rose 3.3% year-on-year. North American carriers posted the strongest growth among all regions at 6.6% year-on-year, although their capacity fell 2.5%. Asia-Pacific grew 4.3% with capacity up 1.2%, Europe advanced 4.1% with a capacity contraction of 3.5%, while the Middle East posted the weakest global performance with a rise of just 1.0% and capacity growth of 3.3%. Africa recorded a 3.0% increase in CTKs, with capacity expanding 14.0% year-on-year.

Marie Owens Thomsen, Senior Vice President of Sustainability and Chief Economist at IATA, noted that strong demand and high load factors partly offset the rise in costs stemming from the sharp increase in fuel prices, and highlighted that yields rose month-on-month for the first time since April. According to data released by the organization, jet fuel prices rose 8.3% month-on-month in August and 79.2% year-on-year, against a backdrop in which global trade grew 6.0% year-on-year in July, marking 33 consecutive months of expansion. The global manufacturing purchasing managers' index for output rose 0.3 points to 53.0, and the new export orders index climbed 1.4 points to 51.4, both considered favorable indicators for air cargo demand.

Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, the Journal of Commerce reported that global air cargo demand is expected to remain firm, driven by large volumes of artificial intelligence equipment and data center hardware shipped on the transpacific trade lane, which is tightening available capacity and points to a strong peak season. Consultancy Xeneta forecasts that global air cargo demand will grow around 4% in 2026, a figure slightly higher than its forecast from late last year and roughly double the expected growth in capacity.