African air cargo continued to increase in June 2026, with demand rising by 4.7 per cent compared to the same period of 2025, according to data published on 29 July 2026 by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). This is in line with the growth of the global market, where demand has increased by 8.5 per cent, driven in particular by high value-added technology shipments and urgent shipments.

African airlines recorded this increase despite a 7.1% decrease in their transport capacity. This resulted in an improvement in the load coefficient, which reached 48.1 per cent, an increase of 5.4 points over a year.

IATA also points out that the Africa-Asia trade corridor remained on the rise, with a 0.9% increase in volumes, thus recording a twelfth consecutive month of growth.

Globally, North America posted the strongest growth in air cargo demand (+13.1%), ahead of Asia-Pacific (+7.9%), Europe (+6.9%), the Middle East (+5.6%) and Latin America and the Caribbean (+3.5%).

Global capacity increased by 4.4 per cent, lower than demand, bringing the average load factor to 46.9 per cent.

According to IATA, world trade increased by 5.2 per cent year-on-year, while the decline in fuel fuel prices by 20 per cent compared to the previous month helped to sustain activity, although costs remained 45.8 per cent higher than in June 2025.

The organisation believes that these results offer favourable prospects for the second half of 2026, while calling for caution. In her view, geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and uncertainties related to US tariff policies remained factors that could affect international trade.

For African carriers, however, continued growth in flows with Asia and improved capacity utilisation confirm the continent's growing position in global air freight trade.