Air cargo played a key role in supporting global trade and economic growth in 2025 as companies navigated heightened trade policy uncertainty, stated the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in a report released on Tuesday.
The report found that air freight enabled companies to accelerate shipments to avoid tariffs and helped move high-value technology goods linked to the expansion of artificial intelligence.
Air cargo enabled the front-loading of $157 billion worth of US imports in the first quarter of 2025 and carried more than two-thirds of global AI-related goods by value during the year, according to IATA.
Those factors helped support global trade growth of 2.4% in 2025, exceeding earlier forecasts from the World Trade Organization. Global GDP expanded by 3.2% despite trade policy headwinds, the report said.
"Air cargo is a structural component of global economic resilience," said Julia Seiermann. "In 2025 it helped businesses absorb tariff shocks, enabled rapid trade restructuring and supported the expansion of AI investment," he stated.
Front-loading of shipments
US tariff rates averaged around 17% in 2025, their highest level since the 1930s, prompting many companies to speed up imports to avoid potential increases.
US imports rose by $193 billion year-on-year in the first quarter, a 26% increase, IATA said. Of that increase, $157 billion - or 82% - was transported by air, with the value of imports carried by air rising 81% compared with the same period a year earlier.
Supply chain shifts
Companies also began restructuring supply chains to reduce exposure to tariffs, with U.S. importers shifting sourcing away from heavily tariffed partners and exporters redirecting shipments to alternative markets, particularly in Europe.
From April to December 2025, expanding trade routes benefited air cargo more than contracting ones weighed on volumes.
On expanding trade lanes to the US, imports increased by $213 billion, of which $174 billion, or 82%, was transported by air, IATA said. On contracting routes, imports fell by $257 billion, with $77 billion – around 30% – typically carried by air.
A similar trend was observed in Europe, where air cargo accounted for 48% of gains on expanding trade lanes but just 3% of losses on shrinking ones.
AI-related trade
Air freight also played a major role in transporting high-value equipment linked to the rapid growth of artificial intelligence, including servers, data storage units and memory chips.
More than two-thirds of the value of AI-related trade was carried by air in 2025, while consignments of such goods rose 20% from a year earlier.
AI-related goods accounted for 53.5% of the total value of air-transported trade but only about 7% of its volume, underscoring their high value density, the report said.
"The rapid increase in demand for AI-related goods in 2025 was met thanks to air cargo," Seiermann said. "As economies increasingly rely on high-value technology goods, air cargo will continue to play a critical role in ensuring their timely delivery," he added.
