Global demand increased by 4.4% year-on-year, while available capacity edged down by 0.1%, according to figures released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
The imbalance helped strengthen load factors and supported a recovery in yields, which rose month-on-month for the first time since April.
However, the improvement comes against a challenging cost backdrop. Jet fuel prices surged 8.3% in August alone and were 79.2% higher than a year earlier, adding pressure to airline operating margins.
Marie Owens Thomsen, IATA’s senior vice president sustainability and chief economist, said stronger demand and higher load factors had helped carriers recover some of those costs.
“Yields rose month-on-month for the first time since April, while global goods trade growth continues. Both are positive signs as the year-end peak season comes into view,” she said.
The underlying economic indicators also point to continued demand for air freight. Global goods trade expanded by 6% year-on-year in July, extending its run of annual growth to 33 consecutive months. Manufacturing output and new export orders also strengthened in August.
Yet the global figures mask considerable regional differences.
North American airlines recorded the strongest demand growth at 6.6%, despite reducing capacity by 2.5%.
European carriers also operated with less available capacity, down 3.5%, while demand increased by 4.1%.
The picture was different in Africa, where a 14% expansion in capacity substantially exceeded demand growth of 3%.
Middle Eastern carriers recorded the weakest demand increase, at just 1%, against a 3.3% rise in capacity.
Asia-Pacific airlines reported demand growth of 4.3%, while Latin American and Caribbean carriers saw volumes rise by 5.1%.
Trade lane performance was similarly uneven. Asia–North America emerged as the strongest-growing corridor, followed by intra-Asia, Europe–North America and Europe–Asia traffic. Gulf-linked routes, meanwhile, continued to face disruption from the conflict in the Middle East.
With international cargo demand rising by 5.3%, the August figures underline the resilience of cross-border air freight activity.
But whether airlines can sustain the recovery in yields through the peak season will depend in part on how demand develops against a backdrop of elevated fuel costs and geopolitical disruption.
