African airlines suffered a 13.4% year-on-year drop in demand in March and were only able to fill just more than a third (37.1%) of their available cargo capacity, latest data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) shows.
At the same time, their cargo capacity increased 10.5% year on year, mostly because of cargo hold space in passenger aircraft.
The IATA represents about 340 airlines worldwide and more than 80% of global air traffic.
The demand for air cargo is a useful barometer of trade, with many high-value items transported by air, including smartphones and IT equipment, automotive components, precious metals and gems, perishable food items and pharmaceuticals.
E-commerce shipments and other courier items are also a growing component of the air cargo industry.
In SA, one of the biggest economies on the continent, air cargo has gained more relevance because of the poor state of the country’s ports and rail infrastructure.
As part of its recently submitted five-year plan, national airline SAA said it wanted to grow the potential of its cargo component.
According to the IATA data, the Europe-North America route was the busiest trade lane in March, while the Asia-North America trade route also grew strongly, possibly encouraged by front-loading shipments ahead of potential increased tariffs.
Both the Europe-Middle East and Africa-Asia trade lanes declined in March.
“[Globally] March cargo volumes were strong. It is possible that this is partly a front-loading of demand as some businesses tried to beat the well-telegraphed April 2 tariff announcement by the Trump administration.
“The uncertainty over how much of the April 2 proposals will be implemented may eventually weigh on trade,” IATA director-general Willie Walsh said in a statement
“In the meantime, the lower fuel costs, a result of the same uncertainty, are a short-term positive factor for air cargo. And, within the temporary pause on implementation, we hope that political leaders will be able to shift trade tensions to reliable agreements that can restore confidence in global supply chains.”
On the passenger demand side, the performance of African airlines in March was on a par with the global picture with a 3.3% increase year on year.
While African airlines saw passenger capacity expand 3.5% year on year, less than three quarters of available seats (70.1%) were taken up by market demand in March, lower than the global average load factor of 80.7%.
Africa accounted for 2.2% of the total world passenger air travel market in March 2025.
“There remains a lot of speculation around the potential impacts of tariffs and other economic headwinds on travel [but] March numbers continued to show a global pattern of growth for air travel,” said Walsh.
“That means the challenges associated with accommodating more people who need to travel — specifically alleviating supply chain problems and ensuring sufficient airport and air traffic management capacity — remain urgent.”
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