Air Silk Road speeds up trade with EU

For the global air cargo markets, based on data released by the IATA in May, it showed weak market conditions. Global demand, measured in cargo ton-kilometers, fell 5.2 percent compared with May 2022.

Capacity, as measured by available cargo ton-km, rose 14.5 percent compared with May 2022, primarily driven by belly capacity, which increases as demand in the passenger business recovers. Capacity is now 5.9 percent above pre-pandemic levels seen in May 2019.

This year, global cargo volume is expected to reach 57.8 million tons, slipping below the level of 61.5 million tons carried in 2019, with a sharp slowing of international trade volume. Cargo revenue is expected to reach $142.3 billion. While that is down sharply from $210 billion in 2021 and $207 billion in 2022, it is well above the $100 billion earned in 2019, the IATA said.

Asia-Pacific airlines saw their air cargo volumes decline 3.3 percent in May year-on-year. The level dipped 0.3 percent compared with April, mainly due to greater annual contractions in international air cargo demand. Available capacity in the region increased 38.3 percent compared with May 2022, as more belly capacity came online from the passenger side of the business, the IATA said.

"Trading conditions for air cargo continue to be challenging, with several economic indicators pointing toward weakness. The second half of the year, however, should bring some improvements," said Willie Walsh, IATA's director-general.

"Priorities for this year include SAF production incentives to accelerate progress toward net zero carbon emissions, eliminating inefficiencies in air traffic management and applying global standards consistently," said Walsh.

Shi Baoyin in Zhengzhou contributed to this story.