Air Cargo Verticals Diverge: Data Centre Demand Surges as E-Commerce Slips
Air cargo demand growth has been driven in recent years by e-commerce and volumes tied to AI data centres, but the two verticals have increasingly moved apart in recent months
Maarten Wormer, head of consulting at Aevean, outlined the divergence during this week’s EU Cross-Border E-Commerce Forum in Liege, pointing to fast growth in air imports linked to data centres.
Wormer reported that data centre volumes into the United States rose 103 percent year on year over the first seven months of the year, reaching 107,000 tonnes in July, a level he equated to 1,000 freighter flights.
Within that segment, US air imports of network equipment climbed 130 percent year on year across the seven-month period, power infrastructure rose 37 percent, computer components increased 86 percent and servers were up 181 percent.
E-commerce flows moved in the opposite direction. Volumes from China to the European Union fell 29 percent year on year in July after a €3 charge was introduced on low-value package imports.
Wormer said the decline into France began in March, when volumes dropped 30 percent as the country brought in its own charge ahead of the EU levy. By July, e-commerce volumes into France had fallen 64 percent.
Even with the contraction in China-Europe e-commerce demand, Wormer said the wider air cargo market has grown this year.
Aevean figures show air cargo volumes up 5.8 percent year on year over the first seven months of 2026, led mainly by Asia Pacific to North America traffic, which rose 24 percent compared with 2025 levels.
Volumes from Asia Pacific to Europe increased 4 percent year on year, intra-Asia volumes improved 8 percent, and Asia Pacific to South America also recorded an 8 percent gain.
The largest decline among trade lanes was Asia Pacific to the Middle East, which the report attributed to the ongoing US-Iran conflict.
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