Air Canada said on 13 February that its Cargo division surpassed $1 billion in revenue in 2025. The figure was driven largely by the success of the freighter network strategy and a 28% increase in year-over-year digital bookings, it added.
Vice president, cargo, Jon Turner, said: “Surpassing $1 billion in annual revenue is a significant milestone, and underscores Air Canada Cargo’s position as a global leader in air freight. As we look ahead, we will continue investing in innovation, operational excellence, and strategic partnerships to unlock even greater opportunities for our customers and for global trade.
In 2025, Air Canada Cargo further expanded its interline partnership with Emirates SkyCargo. Strong sixth freedom traffic from Latin America, as well as an 86% increase in sixth freedom volumes on key market pairs cent, year-over-year, improved revenue diversification.
Kuehne+Nagel, LATAM Cargo, and The Elite Flower have carried out their largest SAF-based operation to date in Latin America, reducing about 300 tonnes of CO₂e linked to the transportation of more than 495 tonnes of flowers, or about 10 million stems Bogota to Miami for Valentine’s Day.
Kuehne+Nagel sustainability manager for Latin America, Ana San Carlos, said: “Collaborating with our partners generates and drives positive and innovative changes in important industries like perishables and air logistics, where reducing carbon emissions is essential. We are proud of the continued commitment to expand this initiative year after year and to inspire more stakeholders in Latin America and globally to continue advancing decarbonisation initiatives in our supply chains.”
VP of sustainability and product at LATAM Cargo Group, Cristina Oñate, added: “This agreement stems from a shared conviction: managing emissions from the aviation industry requires multiple solutions and, above all, collaboration. Together with our customers, we have taken another step towards more sustainable aviation by applying the environmental benefits of using Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) in the flower supply chain. The initiative demonstrates how reducing emissions further enhances the speed and reliability of air transport, which is key for fresh products such as flowers.”
Alvaro Camacho, logistics manager at The Elite Flower, commented : “We export nearly 40 million stems through LATAM Cargo, an operational challenge that we undertake with a commitment to doing it in an increasingly responsible way. The incorporation of SAF into our logistics processes enables us to advance in reducing the carbon footprint of air transport, without compromising the quality or timeliness of our flower deliveries. This type of initiative reflects our contribution to a more sustainable floriculture industry, where operational efficiency and environmental care go hand in hand.”
Liege’s CargoLand arm has officially inaugurated its newly renovated VetCenterfor the sanitary inspection and quarantine of live animals transiting the airport.
The Belgian gateway’s facilities now include fully equipped inspection zones and an isolated quarantine area, enabling veterinarians to manage animals requiring observation or additional testing without interrupting ongoing operations. This configuration allows parallel processing of multiple consignments while maintaining strict biosecurity and operational continuity.
CargoLand’s live animal facilities also include the Horse Inn, capable of accommodating up to 12,000 horses per year.
Some 83% of respondents to a survey of Airforwarders Association (AfA) members said that they had seen reduced shipping volumes from clients as a direct result of new US import tariffs.
They said the tariffs required changes to their clients’ supply chains and shipping routes, while nearly half reported increased operational costs and administrative workload.
They also cited customs delays, airport congestion, reduced flight schedules, and inconsistent security and documentation processes as compounding the impact of tariffs on day-to-day operations.
The AfA said it will use the survey findings to inform its advocacy on Capitol Hill and with industry stakeholders.
Executive director, Brandon Fried, said: “Last year was defined by instability, with shifting trade policy, new tariffs, and changing security and compliance requirements, making it difficult for forwarders and their customers to plan with confidence.
“These results underline the need for more stable, predictable policymaking to provide businesses with the confidence to invest, plan capacity, and make longer-term supply chain decisions.”
TIACA director general, Glyn Hughes, added: “The survey results reflect the reality that current US trade policy is creating. The weaponization of tariffs to punish countries that don’t align to current US positions has caused pain and uncertainty. This has generated a global focus on a US- plus-one strategy when it comes to consumption markets. The ending of the de minimis exemptions from duties and tariffs has also had a negative impact.”
Kuehne+Nagel has signed a lease agreement with Fraport AG for a new 7,600sq m air cargo facility in CargoCity South at Frankfurt Airport. Completion and handover are set for the end of 2028.
The layout features 16 gates and truck docks and has been awarded a German Sustainable Building Council gold standard certification. Besides LED lighting, heat pumps, EV charging stations, and smart metering, a large photovoltaic system will also be installed on the roof to generate renewable energy for the airport grid. The new facility brings Kuehne+Nagel’s total footprint in CargoCity South to over 20,000sq m.
Cargo through Miami International Airport, the busiest US international gateway, increased by 13.6% to nearly 3.5 million tons in 2025, its six straight years of growth.
Passenger traffic reached 55.3 million travelers in 2025 — just 1% below the record set in 2024.
The airport is currently in the middle if a $9 billion programme ofn capital improvements and maintenance upgrades.
Boeing and Royal Jordanian announced today an order for four 787-9 Dreamliner jets as the airline expands and modernizes its widebody fleet.
ECS’s Globe Air to sell Royal Jordanian space in US
ECS Group has signed a strategic, multiyear GSA agreement with Royal Jordanian Airlines in North America.
ECS Group, through its US subsidiary Globe Air Cargo (GAC), takes over cargo sales representation for Chicago O’Hare and Detroit and will market cargo capacity on the carrier’s Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner flights together with connections via Amman on its widebody and freighter network
It will focus on key markets including Libya, Tripoli, Damascus, Jeddah, Beirut, Cairo, Istanbul, Dubai and Bangkok.
The contract includes full GSA services supported by ECS Group’s integrated tech system, including digital booking, pricing intelligence and real-time visibility.
An earlier Lunar New Year flattered global air cargo demand in January as the year commenced with unexpected vigour with a +7% year-on-year boost in demand and an easing of recent freight rate declines, says industry analysts Xeneta. However, any early market optimism for 2026 was dampened by the first year-on-year fall in e-commerce exports from China since January 2022.
The growth in global chargeable weight in the opening month of 2026 was the strongest increase since January 2025, and ahead of the +5% year-on-year growth in capacity supply. With volumes rising faster than capacity, the global dynamic load factor edged up one percentage point to 57%. Dynamic load factor is Xeneta’s measurement of capacity utilisation based on volume and weight of cargo flown alongside available capacity.
Recent pricing declines also recovered with global air cargo spot rates down just -1% year-on-year to US$2.56 per kg in January.
However, Niall van de Wouw, Xeneta’s chief airfreight officer, said the relative upbeat nature of the air cargo market in January needs to be’ tempered with a dose of reality’.
“Asia is such a big exporter of airfreight, it is difficult to draw any conclusions on what the market is signalling in January because of the Lunar New Year and the fluctuations it causes,” he said. “In 2025, the festivities began on 28 January but this year, they begin on 15 February, so much of January’s strength in air cargo volumes is likely calendar-related rather than a clear indicator of improvements in underlying demand.”
Similarly, he said the picture for global air cargo spot rates in January may be a truer reflection of world economic events than demand for capacity. Air freight rates are typically quoted in local currencies, so a weaker dollar can make a world average – converted back into dollars – look firmer than it truly is.
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More decline in e-commerce volumes ex-China
While the outlook for demand and air cargo rates is unlikely to become clearer until the end of the first quarter, one undeniable fact certain to influence air freight volumes is the drop-off in e-commerce volumes ex China and Hong Kong.
Latest China Customs data for December shows low-value and e-commerce exports falling -9% year-on-year, the first decline since January 2022 following two months of flat growth. For an air cargo market that has been turbocharged by cross-border e-commerce since late 2023 – and which relies on e-commerce for some 20-25% of its total annual volumes globally – this is a trend airline and freight forwarders will be closely monitoring.
With the US de minimis ban now firmly in place, China-to-US e-commerce exports extended their steep decline, down more than -50% for a third consecutive month in December. For full year 2025, e-commerce exports fell -28% versus the prior year.
The move by China’s big e-commerce platforms to grow their share of the European market, to offset higher costs impacting volumes into the US, has provided more positive news on this corridor in recent months, but this, too, is now looking exposed.
The growth of China-to-Europe e-commerce volumes slowed to roughly +8% in December compared to a growth rate of +54% over the first 11 months of 2025. And, when excluding Russia, e-commerce sales from China to the rest of Europe declined a considerable -23% year-on-year.
Van de Wouw said: “In October, we said air cargo’s e-commerce growth engine was showing signs of slowing down, but that this could be just a blip. We saw this again in November, and we said if it happened for a third consecutive month in December, this would signal a trend. This is now the situation.
“If it remains flat or declines further, it will certainly affect many organisation’s growth plans, including those with commitments to freighter conversions that will be relying on the high level of e-commerce demand we have seen in recent years.”
Regulation is undoubtedly a factor adding friction to e-commerce trade. US de minimis bans, the EU’s proposed processing fee, and new rules in Japan and Thailand all threaten to dull one of air freight’s most reliable sources of demand.
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Red Sea return may dampen airfreight
Developments in ocean container shipping remain a key wildcard for air freight growth, with the Red Sea/Suez situation requiring close attention. Since late last year, major carriers such as CMA CGM – and more recently Maersk – have been testing Suez Canal routings on selected sailings.
The latest signal from the Gemini partners (Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd) is that the India–Mediterranean loop will resume Suez Canal transits this month, enabled by naval protection and the “highest possible security precautions” to protect crew, vessel and cargo safety. This is a more concrete step than “test” voyages and is being seen as a tentative move toward broader normalization – albeit still conditional on security.
But reality can still intervene quickly and any disruption is likely to lead some ocean shippers back into the air freight business, at least in the short-term. CMA CGM has shown how fragile the situation remains, having previously resumed Suez Canal transits on some backhaul voyages before reverting two services to the Cape of Good Hope due to a “complex and uncertain international environment”.
Even if the Red Sea were to improve further, a rapid modal shift from air back to ocean still looks unlikely in Q1 2026. Many container vessels are still being diverted around Cape of Good Hope routings, transit times are still lengthy (often well beyond six weeks depending on rotation and congestion), and network-wide schedule/capacity reallocation back to the Suez Canal is operationally difficult to execute within a single quarter.
In the near-term, this uncertainty may help to ensure the demand gap in air freight volumes caused by fewer e-commerce shipments doesn’t widen further.
Spot rate decline
At the corridor level, most air cargo spot rates continued to decline year-on-year in January, broadly in line with the global market trend.
The steepest falls were on Southeast Asia to North America and Southeast Asia to Europe, where spot rates dropped by more than -10% year-on-year as capacity continued to expand. Month-on-month, both corridors also fell between 10 and 16%, reflecting their exposure to seasonal demand weakness.
Northeast Asia to Europe recorded the third-largest year-on-year decline, down -6% in January. This suggests capacity growth is outpacing demand, likely influenced in part by softer cross-border e-commerce growth. By contrast, Northeast Asia to North America saw only a modest -3% year-on-year decline, largely driven by the agile removal of freighter capacity.
As with outbound Southeast Asia, both outbound Northeast Asia corridors also posted close to a -20% month-on-month decline as the market temporarily moved into the off-peak period. Spot rates are expected to show an uplift ahead of the Lunar New Year in mid-February, although there are currently few signs of a pre-Lunar New Year cargo rush.
Transatlantic tariffs
On the Transatlantic westbound corridor, spot rates unexpectedly rose +3% year-on-year, despite a -4% year-on-year decline in chargeable weight. This divergence may partly reflect the recent US tariff threat – an additional +10% on imports from eight European countries – before it was reversed on 21 January. This demonstrates both the responsiveness and nervousness of shippers trying to protect their product margins.
The withdrawal of the tariff threat by the US administration certainly appears to have prompted a temporary demand bump: in the week ending 25 January, volumes rose +16% week-on-week, a period that typically sees only low single-digit growth. However, a weaker dollar – making EUR-quoted air freight more expensive – may be a larger factor behind the rate strength.
Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) has completed a successful proof of concept on CIND’s Dimensioner in Motion System for palletised goods.
It carried out a 15-week trial of the vision-based measurement system at its Copenhagen terminal and now intends to rollout the system at stations in its Europe, Middle East, Africa & Asia (EMEAA) region. The next five WFS airport stations to implement the system will be Amsterdam Schiphol, Arlanda Stockholm, Barcelona, Liège, and Paris Chales de Gaulle.
CIND’s Dimensioner uses stereo vision cameras, AI and algorithms to capture dimensions, and visual data automatically. It can measure and analyse standard and non-standard pallets in motion, whether transported by forklift, conveyor, or AGV (Automated Guided Vehicle). The system delivers precise measurements that comply with international standards with an accuracy of +-2cm and ensures the correct freight data is captured for accurate invoicing and aircraft space utilisation.
Volume calculations take under 2 seconds and WFS expects to process up to 500 pallets per hour using the solution.
In 2024, WFS became the first air cargo handler to implement CIND’s ContourCheck 3D modelling software for enhanced data and transparency.
Silk Way West Airlines has taken delivery of its fourth Boeing 777 Freighter in Baku. It forms part of the airline’s ongoing fleet renewal program and is the fourth of six Boeing 777 Freighters ordered. Silk Way has phased out two Boeing 747-400 Freighters and delivery of the remaining two Boeing 777Fs is expected in 2027.
With this delivery, Silk Way West Airlines’ total fleet now stands at 12 aircraft. From 2028, the airline will launch the second phase of its fleet modernization program, which foresees the delivery of four Airbus A350 Freighters and four Boeing 777-8 Freighters.
