Air freight demand begins to wane amid global economic shocks

The Baltic Air Freight Index BAI-TAC-INX, which shows weekly transactional rates for general cargo fell 8.7% last week, while the airlines group IATA said on Monday that freight revenue generated by carriers this year would fall by 6.4%.

DUBAIL The strong cargo demand that helped passenger-deprived airlines stay afloat during the pandemic is showing signs of softening amid growing economic uncertainty, in part, fuelled by decades high inflation.

A potential weakening of the air freight market coincides with growing concern in the aviation industry that surging passenger traffic, which has reduced airlines' reliance on cargo revenue, may be fleeting.