According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), global air cargo markets are experiencing record growth, but air cargo demand in North America suffered.
The IATA released its data from October 2025 global air cargo markets recently. Data showed that total global air cargo demand in October rose 4.1 percent compared to last year, and capacity increased by 5.1 percent compared to last year.
“Air cargo demand grew 4.1 percent year-on-year in October, marking the eighth consecutive month of expansion and setting a new monthly record for volumes. While the Asia-North America trade lane extended its contraction to six months, October saw double-digit or near double-digit growth within Asia, between the Middle East and Europe, and between Europe and Asia. This shifting growth pattern shows that air cargo is enabling global supply chains to adapt to the impact of U.S. tariffs. This positive news is especially significant as the air cargo sector enters the peak fourth quarter shipping season,” Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General, said.
In North America, however, carriers saw a 2.7 percent year-on-year decrease in growth for air cargo, the weakest performance among all regions, tied with Latin America. Capacity increased by 0.1 percent year-on-year. Asia-Pacific airlines saw an 8.3 percent year-on-year growth in demand, while carriers in the Middle East saw a 5.7 percent year-on-year increase in air cargo demand.
IATA said the global air cargo growth can be attributed to many things, among them growth in global goods trading, which grew 3 percent year-on-year in September; a 3.7 percent rise in global industrial production; an increase in jet fuel prices; and a strengthening of the global manufacturing sentiment.