Air cargo’s growth rests on 7% of its volume
17 Aug 20263 min read
Summary
- Artificial intelligence related goods made up 7 per cent of air-transported trade volume in 2025 and 53.5 per cent of its value, according to the International Air Transport Association, with consignments up 20 per cent year on year.
- Air cargo demand rose 8.5 per cent year on year in June, per IATA, with the Asia to North America corridor up 14.7 per cent in a fifth consecutive month of growth.
- Global tonnages grew 5 per cent year on year in July, down from 9 per cent in June, according to Netherlands-based air cargo data company WorldACD, with Asia Pacific origins at 6 per cent against 11 per cent.
Artificial intelligence (AI) related goods accounted for 7 per cent of air-transported trade by volume in 2025 and 53.5 per cent of it by value, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) reported in March. Consignments of those goods grew 20 per cent year on year, and more than two thirds of all AI-related trade value now moves by air.
AI hardware flies because it is expensive, light against its value and wanted immediately. IATA names servers, data storage units and memory chips as the goods behind the figure, and describes them as high in value density and time sensitive. Those are the items the measure covers. The heavier equipment a data centre also needs, from transformers to cooling plant, sits outside it.
That concentration is now carrying the market. Air cargo demand rose 8.5 per cent year on year in June 2026 and the Asia to North America corridor rose 14.7 per cent in its fifth consecutive month of growth, according to IATA’s June market release. That corridor alone carries 23.5 per cent of global market share.
The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA), the Kuala Lumpur-based body representing the region’s major carriers, reported on 5 August that international air cargo demand among its members rose 3.2 per cent year on year in June in freight tonne kilometres. Offered capacity rose 0.2 per cent and the international freight load factor reached 62.6 per cent, 1.8 points higher than a year earlier. Wong Hong, AAPA’s director general, attributed first-half demand growth of 7.0 per cent to continued demand for AI-related semiconductor shipments.
Individual carriers show the same pattern. Korean Air’s cargo revenue rose 46 per cent in the second quarter to 1.54 trillion won (about USD 1.07 billion). Japan Airlines said technology products accounted for roughly 80 per cent of the increase in air exports from Asia excluding China over the past year, and EVA Airways said AI-related shipments account for up to half its cargo revenue, all three figures reported by Reuters in July. Those are company-reported numbers reaching the market through a single analysis.
The rest of the market is not keeping pace. Data from WorldACD, the Netherlands-based air cargo market data company, shows global tonnages grew 5 per cent year on year in July, down from 9 per cent in June, with Asia Pacific origin tonnages at 6 per cent against 11 per cent. Tonnages from China and Hong Kong to Europe fell 12 per cent year on year over the month. Growth is decelerating everywhere the AI trade is not.
Data centre build-outs finish. Carriers and forwarders that have added Asia to North America capacity on the strength of 7 per cent of volume will learn what that corridor looks like when the racks are installed and a replacement cycle, measured in years rather than quarters, takes over from first fit-out.
AI hardware flies because it is expensive, light against its value and wanted immediately. IATA names servers, data storage units and memory chips as the goods behind the figure, and describes them as high in value density and time sensitive. Those are the items the measure covers. The heavier equipment a data centre also needs, from transformers to cooling plant, sits outside it.
That concentration is now carrying the market. Air cargo demand rose 8.5 per cent year on year in June 2026 and the Asia to North America corridor rose 14.7 per cent in its fifth consecutive month of growth, according to IATA’s June market release. That corridor alone carries 23.5 per cent of global market share.
The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA), the Kuala Lumpur-based body representing the region’s major carriers, reported on 5 August that international air cargo demand among its members rose 3.2 per cent year on year in June in freight tonne kilometres. Offered capacity rose 0.2 per cent and the international freight load factor reached 62.6 per cent, 1.8 points higher than a year earlier. Wong Hong, AAPA’s director general, attributed first-half demand growth of 7.0 per cent to continued demand for AI-related semiconductor shipments.
Individual carriers show the same pattern. Korean Air’s cargo revenue rose 46 per cent in the second quarter to 1.54 trillion won (about USD 1.07 billion). Japan Airlines said technology products accounted for roughly 80 per cent of the increase in air exports from Asia excluding China over the past year, and EVA Airways said AI-related shipments account for up to half its cargo revenue, all three figures reported by Reuters in July. Those are company-reported numbers reaching the market through a single analysis.
The rest of the market is not keeping pace. Data from WorldACD, the Netherlands-based air cargo market data company, shows global tonnages grew 5 per cent year on year in July, down from 9 per cent in June, with Asia Pacific origin tonnages at 6 per cent against 11 per cent. Tonnages from China and Hong Kong to Europe fell 12 per cent year on year over the month. Growth is decelerating everywhere the AI trade is not.
Data centre build-outs finish. Carriers and forwarders that have added Asia to North America capacity on the strength of 7 per cent of volume will learn what that corridor looks like when the racks are installed and a replacement cycle, measured in years rather than quarters, takes over from first fit-out.