2024 is shaping up to be a strong year for air cargo, with demand remaining high and rates on the rise.“We have had a very strong start to the year from a volume perspective with very good growth,” said Niall van de Wouw, chief airfreight officer at Xeneta. “Looking at the end of 2023 and where the sector was at the time I think it is safe to say not many of us saw this coming.”He noted that dynamic load factors had increased by 4% globally from 2023, and with demand still rising, the outlook for the rest of the year was understandably positive. "From a rates perspective, if we look back to 2023, rates were about 43% lower than in 2022, which was still during the pandemic. Now, for the first time since August 2022, rates are up," he said. "Globally, they have increased by 5%. This is extremely good news for most players in the airfreight sector, except for shippers. Overall, it's a very positive sign, highlighting the resilience of airfreight."According to Van de Wouw, rates have yet to stabilise. "If we look at the latest figures available, which are for April this year, we see that rates are significantly up from the last quarter of 2023 and that they continue to rise. This is a remarkable development," he said.Glyn Hughes, director of The International Air Cargo Association (Tiaca), agreed, saying in regions such as Africa and Latin America the strength of demand at present was staggering."If we examine the three weeks leading up to Mother's Day and consider the significant number of f lowers transported by airfreight from Nairobi and Addis Ababa, it provides a clear picture of the health of airfreight. In previous years, there was concern that this f lower traffic would shift to maritime transport," he said.Questions are being raised about the strength of the demand and its sustainability, but with f lowers having already hit their peak, the decline in these volumes is being offset by the transport of various fruits such as cherries, mangoes, and pineapples. This suggests that airfreight volumes will remain strong for the foreseeable future.The African market, in particular, is being highlighted as one poised for continued growth this year. The latest figures from the International Air Transport Association underscore this positive trend. In February, African airlines saw their air cargo volumes increase by 22.0% year-on-year (y-o-y), marking the strongest growth among all regions. Air cargo for intra-Africa trade grew by 42.3% y-o-y, with capacity rising 28.2% compared to February 2023.
