As economic challenges continue to rise for countries across the world even as many have braved through the challenges stemming from the pandemic, air cargo demand dropped by 11.2 percent year-on-year (YoY) in April, while cargo load factors dipped by 5.2 percent 51.6 percent and capacity by 2 percent.

IATA in its latest market update said the fall in demand is the largest since August 2020 and load factors are at their lowest level since February 2020. However, it is still above pre-Covid levels.

The drop in demand is fuelled by the war in Ukraine leading to a fall in cargo capacity used to serve Europe as several airlines based in Russia and Ukraine were key cargo players. Adding to the challenge is China’s zero-Covid policy and associated lockdowns led to capacity challenges due to flight cancellations because of labour shortages, IATA said.

“New export orders, a leading indicator of cargo demand and world trade are now shrinking in all markets except the US, the association added,” IATA said.