African airlines experienced an 8.5% year-on-year growth in air cargo demand in 2024, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
The annual performance report on the global air cargo sector showed that African carriers also expanded cargo capacity by 13.6% compared to the previous year.
However, despite this growth, the cargo load factor stood at 41.8%, indicating that less than half of the available cargo space was utilised.
December 2024 saw a 0.9% decline in demand, marking the lowest performance among all regions. During the same period, cargo capacity increased by 1.8%.
Overall, Africa accounted for 2.0% of the total global air cargo market in 2024.
