Air cargo demand: all time high in March
Yesterday, 4 May 2021, on the first day of this year's (virtual) Air Cargo Europe conference, Iata released March 2021 data for global air cargo markets showing that air cargo demand continued to outperform pre-Covid levels (March 2019) with an increase of 4.4%.
In March, demand reached the highest level recorded since the series began in 1990. It also increased month-on-month, with volumes 0.4% higher in March than in February. African airlines’ cargo demand increased 24.6% compared to March 2019, the strongest of all regions.
The 14.5% increase in international demand of North American carriers reflects the strength of economic recovery in the United States. Month-on-month, Middle East carriers (+9.2% in international cargo volumes in March 2021 versus March 2019) posted the strongest growth of all regions, up 4.4%.
Improved operating conditions and recovering export orders contributed to the positive performance of European carriers (+0.9%).
On the other hand, compared to March 2019, demand for international air cargo dropped 0.3% for Asia-Pacific airlines and 23.6% for Latin American carriers. (ah)