African airlines recorded a 3% year-on-year increase in air cargo demand in August 2026, with capacity expanding by 14%, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA). This growth was the highest recorded by any region globally during the month. Africa accounted for 2.1% of the global air cargo market in August 2026. The significant increase in capacity outpaced the growth in demand, indicating that African carriers added substantially more cargo capacity than the growth in traffic recorded during the period.
Globally, air cargo demand increased by 4.4% year-on-year in August, while capacity declined marginally by 0.1%. Demand for international air cargo globally grew by 5.3% during the period. IATA's Senior Vice President, Sustainability and Chief Economist, Marie Thomsen, noted that strong demand and higher load factors were helping airlines offset some of the impact of elevated fuel costs.
The global air cargo market saw a 6% year-on-year increase in global trade in July, extending the run of consecutive monthly expansions to 33 months. Jet fuel prices increased by 8.3% month-on-month in August and were 79.2% higher than a year earlier. Global manufacturing activity also strengthened during the month, with the Global Manufacturing Output Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rising by 0.3 points to 53.0.
Across other regions, North American airlines recorded the strongest growth in air cargo demand, at 6.6%, although their capacity declined by 2.5%. Latin American and Caribbean carriers recorded 5.1% demand growth, with capacity rising by 3.3%. Asia-Pacific airlines recorded 4.3% demand growth and a 1.2% increase in capacity, while European carriers recorded 4.1% demand growth against a 3.5% decline in capacity.
Middle Eastern carriers recorded the weakest demand growth, at 1%, while their capacity increased by 3.3%. IATA noted that air cargo performance across major trade lanes was mixed in August, with Asia-North America recording the strongest growth, followed by intra-Asia, Europe-North America and Europe-Asia routes. However, Gulf-linked corridors remained disrupted by the conflict in the Middle East.
In the passenger market, African airlines recorded a 6.7% year-on-year increase in international passenger demand in August 2026, while capacity rose by 8.3%. The region’s passenger load factor stood at 78.4%, representing a decline of 1.2 percentage points compared with August 2025. African growth was higher than the global passenger demand trend, which declined by 0.8% during the month.
International passenger demand globally fell by 0.9% year-on-year, while domestic demand declined by 0.5%. Excluding Middle Eastern carriers, however, global passenger demand increased by 0.6%. Thomsen attributed the decline in global passenger demand to the disruption of recovery among Middle Eastern carriers.
Key points
- African airlines see 3% rise in air cargo demand and 14% capacity expansion in August 2026.
- Global air cargo demand increases by 4.4% year-on-year in August.
- African airlines record 6.7% year-on-year increase in international passenger demand in August 2026.
