Air cargo volumes stabilise as global rates remain elevated in May

Worldwide air cargo markets broadly stabilised in mid-May after recovering from the ‘super golden week’ holidays in East Asia earlier in the month, while capacity continued to rebuild slowly amid an ongoing volatile geopolitical environment, according to the latest weekly figures from WorldACD Market Data.

Global air cargo tonnages remained flat in week 21 (May 18 to 24) compared with the previous week, while volumes were around 2% higher than the same week last year. WorldACD said supply chain lead times in the US and Europe reached their highest levels in several months due to war-related shipping disruptions and stockpiling, helping to keep air cargo demand relatively strong. Tonnages from Asia Pacific in week 21 were up 5% year on year.

Chargeable weight from the Middle East & South Asia (MESA) region increased 2% week on week despite continuing disruptions to air cargo capacity to and from the Gulf. However, volumes remained slightly lower, down 1% year on year.

On pricing, average worldwide full market air cargo rates remained unchanged in week 21 at $3.23 per kilo. Compared with the same period last year, rates were up 35% due to restricted capacity, higher jet fuel costs and increased use of freighter aircraft.

Average worldwide spot rates increased by a further 1% week on week to $3.75 per kilo, supported by increases from Africa, where rates rose 4%, and Asia Pacific, where rates increased 2% to $5.16 per kilo. Based on more than 500,000 weekly transactions covered by WorldACD’s data, average worldwide spot rates were 50% higher year on year.

Spot rates from MESA increased 59% year on year to $4.26 per kilo, while rates from most other regions rose by more than 40% compared with last year. Central & South America was the exception, recording an 18% increase year on year.

Worldwide air cargo capacity rose by around 1% week on week in week 21, with freighter capacity remaining stable and passenger capacity increasing by 2%.

Capacity to and from MESA recorded the largest week-on-week increase among the main global regions, rising 5%. However, compared with pre-war levels in week 7, capacity remained down by almost one third at 32%, mainly due to reductions in the Gulf, where capacity was nearly half below pre-war levels at 48%. WorldACD said these figures showed the continuing difficulty in scaling up air cargo capacity in the Gulf despite increased freighter activity by carriers outside the region.

Compared with the same week last year, global air cargo capacity in week 21 was around 3% higher. However, WorldACD noted that this growth was less than half the level recorded during the first two months of 2026, before the US and Israel’s war against Iran.