Air Cargo E-Commerce Growth Stalls in July 2026 as EU €3 Import Charge Takes Effect
Air freight e-commerce shipment growth stalled during July after the European Union brought in a fresh levy on small imported parcels
Ryan Keyrouse, who heads the consultancy and data firm Rotate, discussed how e-commerce demand growth had shifted across the previous two years while speaking at this week’s EU cross-border e-commerce forum held in Liege.
Keyrouse indicated that the EU’s newly imposed €3 fee on packages valued under €150 caused year-on-year e-commerce volume growth to stop as of July 2026.
Compared with the preceding month, e-commerce demand moving from China to Europe dropped 24% in July, landing at 112,000 tonnes.
According to Keyrouse, carriers responded to the EU levy by trimming freighter capacity on the China/Hong Kong-Europe route by approximately 28% during the same window.
Rotate’s research revealed that Air China Cargo removed 25 weekly flights to Europe, lowering its weekly tally to 35. China Central Airlines went from 30 down to 20 flights per week, SF Express dropped from 20 weekly flights to 10, and CMA CGM trimmed its schedule from 12 to three flights.
Keyrouse observed that the July cutback in flying might additionally have been shaped by some front-loading before the regulatory change took hold.
Turning to airports, Keyrouse stated that the reductions are clustered in e-commerce hubs such as Budapest, Liege, Urumqi and Hong Kong.
Data from Rotate indicated that direct China/Hong Kong to Europe freighter capacity between 1-21 June and 1-21 August dropped by 58% to Budapest, 35% to Liege, 28% to Schiphol, 20% to East Midlands, 16% to Frankfurt and 15% to Milan.
On the outbound leg, direct European freighter capacity across the same period from Urumqi declined 72%, Beijing 43%, Zhengzhou 38%, Ezhou 51%, Chongqing 38% and Hong Kong 28%.
Keyrouse highlighted that e-commerce volumes heading to the US and Brazil have since bounced back after those markets scrapped their de minimis exemptions for low-value packages in May 2025 and August 2024, respectively.
On a worldwide basis, e-commerce volumes rose 23% to 295,000 tonnes in July 2026 relative to two years prior, which Keyrouse presented as proof of the vertical’s fundamental strength.
Recommended posts
Free Data: Insights – European Union
Instant access. No credit card needed.
