Geneva – The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released May 2022 data for global air cargo markets showing that the easing of Omicron restrictions in China helped to alleviate supply chain constraints and contributed to a performance improvement in May.
Note: We returned to year-on-year traffic comparisons, instead of comparisons with the 2019 period, unless otherwise noted.
- Global demand, measured in cargo tonne-kilometers (CTKs*), was 8.3% below May 2021 levels (-8.1% for international operations). This was an improvement on the year-on-year decline of 9.1% seen in April.
- Capacity was 2.7% above May 2021 (+5.7% for international operations). This more than offset the 0.7% year-on-year drop in April. Capacity expanded in all regions with Asia-Pacific experiencing the largest growth.
- Air cargo performance is being impacted by several factors.
- Trade activity ramped up slightly in May as lockdowns in China due to Omicron were eased. Emerging regions also contributed…