News / Middle East airfreight capacity plummets as carriers suspend services

Flight Radar June 20 2025

Airfreight capacity in the Middle East has plummeted since the outbreak of hostilities between Israel and Iran – leading to a global drop in capacity. 

All widebody capacity, belly and freighter, in the region has fallen: by 100% in Iran and Syria; Iraq has 84% less; Israel is down 78%; Jordan down 43%; and Lebanon is down 40%, according to Rotate’s capacity database.  

Air Charter Service also confirmed it has had no demand for traffic into the region, indicating that the risks remain too high, despite the probable need for humanitarian aid. 

Lufthansa Cargo is among many airlines to cease operations: it has confirmed that it has suspended flights to Tel Aviv until 31 July and will not take bookings or cargo “until further notice”. It has also suspended flights to Amman and Erbil until 11 July, while Beirut is suspended until 30 June. 

The airline noted: “Bookings and acceptance of shipments for temperature-sensitive shipments (ACT, PAS, ICE, PER), time-critical shipments (BXO), animal transport (AVI, AVP, AVX), and repatriation of human remains (HUM) are not possible until further notice.” 

Closure of airspace has also led to longer routes for some airlines travelling through the region. 

Volumes to and from the Middle East and South Asia (MESA) have fallen sharply, said WorldACD today. But it noted that was, in part, due to the effect of the Eid Al-Adha holidays, followed by the conflict. 

Tonnage from the MESA region fell 9% in week 24, to 15 June, after a previous weekly drop of 8%. Intra-MESA traffic fell 26%, while to Africa it fell 17% in week 23. The Freightos FAX recorded a fall in intra-Middle East rates, from $3.23 per kg on 10 June to $2.25 per kg on Wednesday. 

Tonnages from Levant countries dropped 21% week on week, as flight cancellations took hold. The significant drop accounted for some 12% of the overall worldwide drop in tonnage, the rest explained by declines from South Asia, including Bangladesh (-43%) and Pakistan (-30%).  

According to Rotate, capacity in the UAE fell 6%, Qatar was down 2% – but Turkey and Saudi Arabia both rose, 4% and 5% respectively. The UAE, despite a recent fall on capacity, saw a 15% rise in tonnage in week 24, mainly to Africa, up 36%, with a 76% rise to west Africa, while Kenya was up 83%.

The severe capacity drops in the Middle East have driven global freighter capacity down 2% in the past week over the average of the previous four weeks. Other big declines were between Europe and Africa, which was down 10% southbound and 6% northbound.  

But both the transpacific and transatlantic saw freight capacity gains, however, with Asia to North America up 4%, and up 2% on the backhaul – while FAX rates remained flat. Transatlantic westbound was up 6%, although eastbound it fell 2%. Rates from Europe to North America have stayed broadly flat, according to FAX. 

Westbound traffic is thought to be partly driven by pharmaceutical exports in advance of possible US tariffs. Ireland in particular saw a record month in March for exports to the US, with sales 400% higher than the previous year – driven entirely, said the Central Bank of Ireland, by “a single product category: ingredients used in weight loss and diabetes medicines”.