African airlines increased their air cargo capacity by 14 per cent year-on-year in August, significantly outpacing the growth in freight demand across the region, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has said.
According to IATA’s latest global air cargo market data, air cargo demand in Africa increased by 3 per cent during the month, leaving capacity growth well ahead of the volume of freight transported.
The imbalance between capacity and demand resulted in a 3.9 percentage-point decline in the region’s cargo load factor, which stood at 36.5 per cent in August.
IATA also reported a decline in traffic along the Africa-Asia corridor, with demand falling 11.9 per cent year-on-year in August.
The contraction marked the third consecutive month of decline on the route, highlighting continued weakness in air freight activity between the two regions.
Globally, however, air cargo demand rose by 4.4 per cent year-on-year in August, according to IATA.
The aviation body said the global increase was a positive indication as the industry approaches the peak end-of-year air freight season.
