Ethiopian carriers led East Africa’s air freight distance measure
Ethiopia’s registered carriers recorded 4.02 billion freight tonne-kilometres in 2023. Kenya recorded about 289 million and Tanzania about 20 million in the same ICAO series.
Sources checked
Rift & Coast Editorial Team
Air freight activityFreight distance carried by registered airlines, 2023
Ethiopia4,015.46 million tonne-km
Kenya288.62 million tonne-km
Tanzania20.04 million tonne-km
Uganda0.06 million tonne-km
Rwanda0 million tonne-km
Somalia0 million tonne-km
The chart includes the six countries with 2023 observations. Long routes can raise a carrier’s tonne-kilometres without raising tonnes by the same proportion.
Moving one tonne over 100 kilometres produces 100 tonne-kilometres. The measure captures how far freight travels as well as how much is carried. An airport throughput statistic in tonnes measures weight at a facility. Source 3
Ethiopia and Kenya took different paths
Ethiopia went from about 2.45 billion in 2019 to 4.02 billion in 2023. Kenya was at 320.95 million in 2019 and rose to 505.86 million in 2022 before falling to 288.62 million in 2023. Source 2
Why carrier registration matters
The ICAO series assigns traffic to the country where the commercial carrier is registered. Freight handled by foreign airlines at airports in a country can appear in those airlines’ home-country figures. The chart cannot rank airports by cargo handled. Source 1Source 3
Which countries have recent observations
The 2023 comparison includes six countries with published values. The source has no 2000 to 2023 observations for Burundi or South Sudan in this extract. Rwanda and Somalia have reported zeros in 2023, which are distinct from a missing row. Source 2