Air cargo traffic on Asia-Europe routes surged in 2025 as Asia-North America flows contracted amid trade tensions.
With high levels of uncertainty over tariffs between the U.S. and Asia-Pacific countries—especially China—persisting through the year, 2025 saw a “market share reallocation” favoring Asia-Europe trade lanes, IATA said in its 2025 cargo demand report. Air cargo traffic between Asia and Europe, as measured in cargo ton kilometers (CTK), increased 10.3% year over year in 2025, whereas Asia-North America traffic declined 0.8% year over year.
Asia-North America’s global international air cargo market share dropped by 1.2 percentage points to 23.4% in 2025, while Asia-Europe’s market share increased by 1.1 percentage points to 21.5%.
“The most notable beneficiary of this shift [away from Asia-North America] was the Europe-Asia corridor, which recorded a 12.2% year-over-year increase in December, marking its strongest December performance since 2016,” IATA said. “This late-year strength lifted full-year volumes 10.3% above 2024 levels, consolidating the route’s role as a core artery for manufacturing inputs, high-value goods and time-critical shipments. Reflecting this momentum, Europe-Asia absorbed most of the market share reallocation observed in 2025.”
Demand on the Asia-North America corridor grew by 0.6% year over year in December, slowing from 1.8% in November. “But this modest expansion was insufficient to offset pronounced volatility earlier in the year,” IATA said. “As a result, full-year demand contracted by 0.8% in 2025. [Asia-North America] experienced contraction in seven out of 12 months, with declines ranging from 0.7% to a pronounced 10.4% in May, reflecting the combined effects of tariff measures and the removal of the U.S. de minimis exemption for shipments valued under $800.”
IATA noted the weak Asia-North America performance underscored “how policy-driven disruptions can reshape corridor relevance.”
Asia-Middle East air cargo traffic grew 5.8% year over year in 2025, reflecting “the Middle East’s function as a logistics bridge between Asian production centers and downstream markets,” IATA said.
The organization reported within-Asia air cargo routes: “continued to outperform. Demand surged 13.6% year over year in December, marking the fourth double-digit growth month of 2025 and the second consecutive month of expansion. This sustained momentum translated into a 10.3% cumulative increase for the full year.”
IATA said the strong within-Asia growth reflected “the broader ‘China Plus One’ trend as manufacturing and sourcing diversify across Southeast Asia. The shift toward regionalized supply chains, near‑shoring within Asia and short‑haul production linkages is increasingly driving cargo flows away from traditional Chinese hubs toward emerging regional centers.”
IATA noted that international air cargo corridor market share is being “redistributed away from policy-exposed lanes toward structurally resilient routes.”
Overall, Asia-Pacific airlines saw CTKs increase 8.4% year over year in 2025, the highest growth of any region. In contrast, North American airlines posted a 1.3% decline in air cargo traffic in 2025, the weakest performance globally.
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