Global airfreight tonnage and pricing diverged, as chargeable weight declined -4% from the prior week, sinking in all but one sector, whereas pricing rose across the board except from North America, where it was unchanged from the previous week. Tonnages shrank week on week (WoW) out of Asia Pacific and Middle East and South Asia (MESA) both to USA and Europe, but declines were more pronounced to Europe.

According to the latest weekly figures from WorldACD Market Data, Africa (+7%) was the only origin region that posted a WoW increase in chargeable weight, with all other areas showing contraction, ranging from -7% out of Asia Pacific to -1% both out of Europe and Central and South America (CSA). The decline out of Asia Pacific can be partly attributed to national holidays in Japan (Autumnal Equinox Day on 23 September) and China (Mid-Autumn Festival on 25 September). Comparing the past two weeks with the prior fortnight (2Wo2W), both Asia Pacific and MESA saw contractions in all major outbound sectors (except expansion from Asia Pacific to North America), whereas flows out of Europe and North America increased in all sectors.

Compared to the same week a year ago (YoY) global tonnage was +5% higher. It rose in single-digit percentages out of all origins, led by +9% growth out of Africa, followed by Asia Pacific and Europe with +6% expansion each. Despite the impact of the conflict in the Middle East, chargeable weight from MESA was still up +1% YoY.

Asian slowdown at different paces

Volumes out of Asia retreated -2% WoW to USA and dropped -8% to Europe. To Europe tonnages slipped in all sectors except from Hong Kong (unchanged) and Malaysia (up +20%), recovering from a -18% drop due to public holiday Malasia Day the week before. Chargeable weight dropped -40% out of Japan and fell between -10% and -14% from Vietnam, South Korea, Indonesia and Thailand, while the other origins show single-digit contraction.

Partly owing to the ongoing AI-related traffic, tonnage out of Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Singapore to USA climbed between +6% and +12% WoW, whereas four origins in Asia Pacific (Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Thailand) saw WoW volume decline. YoY tonnage from the region to USA was up +14% (increasing from all origins except Japan), while chargeable weight to Europe shrank in all Asia Pacific origins except Indonesia for an overall contraction of -8%.

MESA volumes in retreat

Tonnage from MESA to Europe sank -6% WoW, owing to declines out of India (-4%) and Bangladesh (-5%), while volumes out of Dubai remained stable on a WoW basis. Year on year volume ex-MESA shrank -7% as a result of contraction out of Dubai (-44%) and India (-7%). Traffic from MESA to USA slipped -2% WoW on declining tonnages out of Dubai (-7%), India (-1%) and Sri Lanka (-12%). Still traffic was +13% higher YoY on the strength of growth out of India (+15%) and Bangladesh (+47%).

Rates advance in single digits on stable capacity

Global airfreight capacity was unchanged for a third consecutive week. It rose +1% WoW out of Africa and contracted -1% from Europe, while there was no change in the other origins. The same pattern played out on a 2Wo2W basis – no change overall with fluctuations of -1% to +1% in individual regions. Compared to the same two-week period in 2025 total capacity was +3% higher, driven by single-digit expansion in all markets.

Pricing rose +2% overall WoW, led by a +4% increase out of Asia Pacific, followed by Africa, Europe and MESA with +3%. It rose +1% from CSA and was flat out of North America. Compared to a year ago it was +27% higher, with MESA (+52%) showing the biggest increase, while CSA (+7%) was the only region with pricing up less than +10%.

The average rate out of Asia Pacific to USA was unchanged WoW, despite drops between -1% and -9% out of six origins that were cancelled out by increases of +1% to +4% out of four other areas. To Europe pricing out of Asia Pacific rose +2% WoW, propelled by increases from seven origin countries ranging from +1% (Japan) to +8% (Singapore).

Double-digit increases between +19% (Taiwan) and +54% (Singapore) pushed the average rate from Asia Pacific to USA +38% higher than a year earlier. Pricing from the region to Europe was 25% higher YoY, with Hong Kong (+9%) the only origin where rates climbed less than +10%, a reflection of the slump in e-commerce traffic into the European Union.

Out of MESA pricing rose +3% WoW to Europe, while rates to USA climbed +7%. In both cases those increases were driven by rising prices from India and Sri Lanka, whereas rates out of Dubai and Bangladesh decreased. YoY average rates to Europe and USA were respectively +63% and +70% higher.

Looking ahead, China shuts down for the Golden Week holiday between 1 and 7 October, further impacting its exports.