The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released data for March 2025 global air cargo markets showing:

Total demand, measured in cargo tonne-kilometers (CTK), increased by 4.4% compared to March 2024 levels (+5.5% for international operations), a historic peak for March. 

Capacity, measured in available cargo tonne-kilometers (ACTK), expanded by 4.3% compared to March 2024 (+6.1% for international operations). 

Several factors in the operating environment should be noted:

March volumes typically rise after a lull in February, and this single-digit increase is in line with pre-COVID growth trends. 

Jet fuel prices dropped 17.3% year-on-year, marking nine straight months of year-on-year declines.

The sharp rise in US tariffs and new trade rules, especially the 2 May ban on duty-free imports from China and Hong Kong, may have prompted companies and buyers to make purchases in advance to avoid significant import fees.

World industrial output grew 3.2% year-on-year, and trade volumes expanded 2.9%. Many key Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) indices fell: US inflation was 2.4%, down 0.4 points from February, EU CPI was 2.5% and Japan’s rate fell 0.1% to 3.6%. China remains in deflation but this eased to -0.1%.

Trade Lane Growth: The Europe-North America route was the busiest trade lane in March. The largest trade lane by market share, Asia-North America, also grew strongly, possibly encouraged by front-loading shipments ahead of potential increased tariffs. Europe-Middle East and Africa-Asia were the only trade lanes to decline in March.