Federal Express (FedEx) once again topped the list of top 25 cargo airlines in IATA’s World Air Transport Statistics (WATS) report for 2024.
The US airline had a 1.2% increase in volume to 18bn CTK, a smaller rise than many of its rivals on the list, although it remained ahead by a sizeable margin.
In second place was Qatar Airways with a 5.6% rise to 15.2bn CTK and in third place was UPS with a 6% rise to 15.1bn CTK.
Other airlines in the top 10 included Emirates, Atlas Air, Turkish Airlines, Korean Air, China Southern Airlines, Cathay Pacific Airways and Cargolux.
New entrants to the list included British Airways, Etihad and China Eastern Airlines. Meanwhile, Avianca dropped out of the list.
Polar Air Cargo, which joint venture partners Atlas Air Worldwide and DHL closed earlier this year, also dropped off the list. Asiana, whose cargo business was recently acquired by Air Incheon, now AirZeta, also lost its place on the list.
IATA said air cargo demand for 2024, measured in cargo tonne-kilometers (CTK), increased 11.3% year on year. This growth was aided by high e-commerce volumes and ocean shipping constraints.
2024’s cargo volumes exceeded the record volumes set in 2021 by 0.5%.
For more insight into the top 25 cargo airlines as determined by the WATS report, look out for Air Cargo News' detailed report in the September Monthly Exclusive email.
