IATA: Africa–Asia cargo route fastest-growing in Jan 2026, up 41.6%

The Africa–Asia air cargo trade lane recorded the fastest growth globally in January 2026, surging 41.6% compared to January 2025.

This information comes from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which also reported that global air cargo demand grew 5.6% overall, with international flights up 7.2%.

The surge on the Africa–Asia route reflects rising trade between the continents, driven by increased shipments of electronics, industrial goods, and other items connecting African and Asian markets.

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What the report is saying

IATA highlighted the Africa–Asia route as the fastest-growing cargo corridor, marking seven consecutive months of strong expansion. Despite the rapid growth, the lane still represents a small portion of the global market, accounting for just 1.3% of total air cargo.

• The increase reflects growing trade links between African and Asian markets and rising demand for goods along this corridor.
• Furthermore, the report showed that African carriers recorded the strongest regional performance in January 2026, with demand up 18.2%—the highest of any region—and capacity rising 6.5%.

This shows that airlines across the continent are scaling up operations to keep pace with increasing shipments.

**Other regions and trade lanes **

Other regions showed mixed performance in January. Middle Eastern carriers grew demand by 9.3% and capacity by 9.9%, while Asia-Pacific airlines posted 7.8% growth in demand and 3.3% in capacity. European airlines saw demand rise 6.9%, with capacity up 4.9%.

• In contrast, North American airlines experienced a small drop in demand (0.5%) and capacity (0.2%), the only region to shrink in operations.
• Latin American and Caribbean carriers reported a 2.0% fall in demand, even as capacity increased slightly by 2.3%.

Other key trade lanes performed as follows: Europe–Asia cargo volumes grew 15.2%, Europe–North America rose 3.8%, Middle East–Asia climbed 12.9%, Within Asia expanded 14.3%, and Within Europe increased 1.0%.

The Asia–North America lane was the only major route to see a small contraction, declining 0.6%.

**Flashback **

African airlines had already recorded the strongest growth in global air cargo demand in December 2025, with year-on-year demand up 10.1%, the highest among all regions.

• For the full year 2025, cargo demand by African carriers grew 6.0% compared to 2024, while capacity expanded 7.8%.
• December 2025 marked a peak period for the region, with capacity increasing 9.8%, allowing airlines to meet seasonal demand and strengthen intra-African and international trade flows.

In November 2025, African airlines led global air cargo growth, with year-on-year demand rising 15.6%.

**What you should know **

African airlines also led the passenger market in international air travel growth in January 2026, with passenger demand rising 11.7% year-on-year, reflecting strong momentum in cross-border travel.

• International capacity, measured as available seat kilometers, increased 10.1% year-on-year for African carriers.
• The load factor, which measures the percentage of seats filled by paying passengers, reached 77.4%, up 1.1 percentage points from January 2025.

Globally, international demand rose 5.9% year-on-year, with an overall load factor of 82.5%, a record high for the month.

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