African airlines recorded year-on-year growth in air cargo demand during June 2026 despite reducing available capacity, producing the largest annual improvement in cargo load factor among all regions covered by the International Air Transport Association.
Cargo traffic carried by African airlines, measured in cargo tonne-kilometres, increased by 4.7% compared with June 2025. Available cargo capacity fell by 7.1%, making Africa the only region in which carriers reduced available lift during the month.
The combination of rising demand and lower capacity lifted Africa’s cargo load factor by 5.4 percentage points to 48.1%. This was the strongest year-on-year load factor improvement recorded by any airline region in June.
Africa’s performance came as global air cargo demand increased by 8.5% year on year, while worldwide capacity grew by 4.4%. The global cargo load factor rose by 1.7 percentage points to 46.9%.
Although Africa’s traffic growth remained below the global rate, its cargo load factor exceeded the industry-wide level because demand increased while available African capacity contracted. IATA reported that this withdrawal of lift materially tightened regional availability and amplified existing air cargo connectivity constraints.
International African Cargo Traffic Continues to Grow
International cargo traffic carried by African airlines also increased by 4.7% year on year in June. However, the region’s growth rate slowed by 7.4 percentage points compared with May, representing the largest monthly loss of momentum among the airline regions assessed by IATA.
International capacity supplied by African carriers declined by 6.9%. With demand increasing against this reduction in available space, Africa’s international cargo load factor rose by 5.4 percentage points to 49.1%.
The improvement again represented the largest annual international load factor gain among the regions, although Africa’s international demand growth remained below the global increase of 9.6%.
African carriers accounted for 2.1% of global international cargo tonne-kilometres in 2025, the same share recorded for their total cargo market activity.
Year-to-Date Demand Outpaces Available Capacity
Africa’s performance during the first six months of 2026 was stronger than its June result alone. Total cargo traffic carried by African airlines increased by 11.1% year to date, while available capacity declined by 0.7%.
The resulting cargo load factor increased by five percentage points to 47.0%.
International cargo traffic also grew by 11.1% during the first half of the year. International capacity declined by 0.5%, lifting the international cargo load factor by 5.1 percentage points to 48.4%.
These figures show that African carriers handled considerably more cargo traffic during the first half of 2026 without a corresponding expansion in available lift.
Higher Aircraft Utilisation Reflects a Tightening Market
African airlines’ 48.1% total cargo load factor in June was above the global average of 46.9%, as well as the levels recorded by Middle Eastern, North American and Latin American and Caribbean carriers.
Asia-Pacific airlines recorded the highest regional cargo load factor at 51.8%, followed by European carriers at 50.5%. African airlines ranked behind these two regions but registered a substantially larger annual improvement.
IATA attributed regional utilisation outcomes to different combinations of supply and demand rather than a uniform strengthening of the global market. In Africa, the improvement was reinforced by the significant reduction in cargo capacity, leaving less available lift even as traffic continued to grow.
The data is allocated according to the region in which each airline is registered and should not be interpreted as measuring cargo traffic conducted exclusively within Africa. Historical figures may also be revised as further airline data becomes available.
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