2025 has been marked by multiple demand shocks, shifting trade lanes and a level of regulatory disruption the airfreight industry has never seen before, according to Niall van de Wouw, chief airfreight officer at Xeneta, a global freight rate benchmarking and analytics platform.
Industry expectations at the start of the year were relatively straightforward, he said. We anticipated demand growth would outpace supply, tariffs would cause some disruption, uncertainty over the Suez return would persist, e-commerce would continue to grow despite new regulations and sustainability pressures would intensify.
Van de Wouw said demand predictions for 2025 were estimated for low single-digit growth. Thats roughly where we ended up, around 4 for the full year, he said. Rates normalised in the second quarter before rising again in November as demand once more outpaced supply.
