Air Cargo & Freight Logistics Airline Industry & Market Trends Asia-Pacific (APAC) Airlines

Asia-Pacific air cargo demand strengthens as passenger traffic softens

Global air cargo tonnages rose 8% year on year in mid-September, with Asia-Pacific demand driving growth ahead of China’s holiday period. In contrast, the region’s airlines carried 33.5 million international passengers in August, down 0.6% from a year earlier, underscoring an uneven but broadly positive outlook.

Discovered 2026-09-28T00:20:11.436265-07:00 | 2026-09-28T00:20:11.436265-07:00

Briefing

What Hype is tracking

Cargo demand is outpacing passenger growth in Asia-Pacific, with global tonnages up 8% year on year and regional international freight demand up 1.1% in August.
The divergence gives airlines, cargo operators and logistics providers a clearer near-term signal on where capacity and network demand are strengthening.
AAPA’s broadly positive but uneven outlook highlights the need to distinguish between markets as passenger volumes remain 0.6% below last year’s level.

Reported By

FlightGlobal Airline Economics