According to WorldACD Market Data, global air cargo markets showed signs of stabilization in mid-May, following a recovery from the super golden week holidays in East Asia earlier in the month. The data, released for week 21 covering 18 to 24 May, indicates that worldwide tonnages remained flat compared to the previous week, while being approximately 2% higher than the same week in the prior year.

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Demand for air cargo remains relatively strong, driven by supply chain lead times in the US and Europe reaching their highest levels in several months due to war-related shipping disruptions and stockpiling. Tonnages from the Asia Pacific region in week 21 were significantly higher than their levels from the same period last year, recording a 5% increase.

Despite ongoing disruptions to air cargo capacity to and from the Gulf, chargeable weight from the Middle East & South Asia (MESA) region rose by 2% week on week, though it remained slightly down by 1% year on year. On pricing, average full market air cargo rates were flat in week 21 at $3.23 per kilo, but compared to the same period last year, restricted capacity, high jet fuel costs, and greater use of freighter aircraft drove a rate increase of 35%.

Average worldwide spot rates edged up by a further 1% week on week to $3.75 per kilo, driven by increases from Africa (up 4% week on week) and Asia Pacific (up 2% week on week to $5.16 per kilo). These figures are based on more than 500,000 weekly transactions covered by WorldACD’s data, resulting in average worldwide spot rates being 50% higher year on year. Spot rates from MESA rose 59% year on year to $4.26 per kilo, while spot rates from most other regions increased by more than 40% year on year, with the exception of Central & South America, which saw an 18% rise.

Worldwide air cargo capacity increased by approximately 1% week on week in week 21, with freighter capacity remaining stable while passenger capacity recovered further by 2% week on week. Capacity to and from MESA experienced the largest week-on-week increase of any major global region, regaining a further 5%. However, compared to pre-war levels in week 7, capacity is down by nearly one third (32%), largely due to reductions for the Gulf, where capacity is barely half its pre-war levels (48%). These figures underscore the challenge of further scaling up air cargo capacity in the Gulf amid the current unstable context, despite carriers based outside the region increasing their freighter capacity.

Compared with the same week last year, global air cargo capacity in week 21 this year was approximately 3% higher. This year-on-year growth may appear surprising given the continuing deficit in capacity flown by Gulf carriers and from the Gulf region as a whole. However, the current year-on-year increase of 3% is less than half of its level from the opening two months of 2026, prior to the war by the United States and Israel against Iran.

Source: IndexBox Market Intelligence Platform