Middle East and South Asia air cargo tonnages partially rebound

Monday, 30 June 2025 02:19 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Air cargo tonnages from Middle East and South Asia origins have partially rebounded in the third week of June after falling sharply in the previous two weeks due to the effects of Eid Al Adha holidays and the conflict between Israel and Iran, according to the WorldACD Market Data.

As per its latest weekly figures, tonnages flown from the region bounced back with a +10% week-on-week (w-o-w) increase in the 16 to 22 June period, after falling by around 15% in the first two weeks of the month.

Declines in the week (4 to 10 June), especially intra-regional traffic (-26%) and to Africa flows (-16%), had continued the following week (10 to 16 June) with Levant countries (down 17%) and South Asia (down 12%) impacted particularly strongly – including w-o-w declines in traffic from Bangladesh (-48%) and Pakistan (-30%).

Those declines were partially reversed this week with, respectively, a +14% rebound from the Levant, +32% from Pakistan origins and a +18% WoW increase in flown chargeable weight from Bangladesh, stated the report.

The Middle East and South Asia’s traffic to Europe recorded a +17% week-on-week increase with intra-regional traffic regaining +12%, and volumes to Asia Pacific rising +11%, w-o-w, based on the more than 500,000 weekly transactions covered by WorldACD’s data.

The region’s biggest origin market, India, recorded a more than 7% w-o-w increase after falls the previous week, and there were also significant increases in traffic from the UAE (+10%), Israel (+12%) and Saudi Arabia (+40%).

On a global level, worldwide tonnages recorded a +2% w-o-w increase – taking them +5% higher, year on year (YoY) – thanks to w-o-w increases from Middle East and South Asia origins (+10%), Europe (+5%), Africa (+4%) and Asia Pacific (+1%).

Average global rates rose by around +1% to $ 2.43 per kilo, based on a full-market mix of spot and contract rates, taking them slightly (-1%) below their level last year.

Spot rates were also relatively stable at an average of $ 2.57 per kilo globally, with spot prices also seeing little w-o-w change (-1%) despite that market’s volume fluctuations, although spot rates from that region are well (-26%) below their inflated levels this time last year.

Flight operations across the Middle East that have been affected by airspace closures have partially resumed this week following the Israel-Iran ceasefire, and Gulf states including Qatar, UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait reopening their airspace, allowing flights through key hubs like Doha and Dubai.

But many international carriers remain on reduced operations to and from the region, with normality not expected to return until next month – depending on the ceasefire holding and full airspace reopening.

These developments are likely to be reflected in the figures over the coming two weeks, it added.

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