Digital Bookings Revolutionize the Air Freight Industry

Although digital advancements are occurring across all of the world's primary cargo markets as the pandemic continues, the most remarkable advancements have been in air freight.

This week, the TAC Index showed that rates to move goods in aircraft from Hong Kong to North America and Europe reached new records, as concerned importers decided to fly over bottlenecks on the ground to avoid running out of holiday stockpiles.

Cruising Altitude
Airlines from Asia to the U.S. and Europe have been hitting records this week with their air cargo rates
A number of factors contributed initially to the demand, including the urgent need for health-care supplies like vaccines and PPE at no matter what cost, as well as the shift to online shopping. Because of the grounding of passenger jets, the capacity has remained severely limited.

Prior to the pandemic, bookings of air freight would often take longer than the actual trip itself. Now, platforms like WebCargo in Barcelona make it easier and faster to conduct transactions. Bookings for the company, which is owned by Freightos, surged more than 1000% over the past year while its share of the top 100 airlines' capacity grew to 29% from 8% at the end of last year.

FedEx closes Hong Kong crew base amid CVI cases

For real-time cargo pricing and booking, WebCargo connects to more than 10000 freight-forwarding offices around the world, including Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines, Air France-KLM, and IAG. During the period October 2019 to October 2020, bookings increased six-fold.

Flying Off the Shelf
The share of air cargo capacity digitized on top 100 carriers increased on WebCargo

It should come as no surprise that the normally unsung world of air cargo was making waves at the Dubai Airshow this week. Leasing giant Air Lease became the first customer for the A350 freighter there, as part of an agreement to purchase 111 narrow- and wide-body aircraft.

As Covid pushed for on-demand shipping,  along with reduced capacity and increased volatility,  helped propel digital air cargo bookings tenfold from the third quarter of 2020 to the third quarter of 2021,  said Manuel Galindo,  CEO of WebCargo. Despite the end of the Covid era, air cargo digitization will remain a mainstay.

Two recent indicators based on shipping data show American consumers are showing little sign of returning to their normal balance of spending on services over goods. A reading of 123 was recorded for the Flexports Post-Covid Indicator in December, up from 122 in November and represents the 11th consecutive month above the baseline of 100 established in mid-2020 to demonstrate how consumer spending patterns changed after the initial coronavirus outbreaks and lockdowns.

Todays Must Reads
According to the UN Conference on Trade and Development, high ocean shipping costs may soon translate into a 15% increase in global consumer prices in 2023, with smaller, trade-dependent countries likely to be hit hardest.
The cost of eating is outpacing its prices at Walmart and Target. The two companies are not scrambling to close the gap. Lowes also raised its sales forecast and reported stronger-than-expected revenue for the current year.
Fight over optic fiber cables The European Union imposed tariffs of as much as 44% on optical-fiber cables from China, impacting the supply of telecom equipment for the next generation.
Amazon, playing cards, is considering switching its co-branded credit card to Mastercard amid tensions with Visa, a feud that has already prompted the retailer to ban the payment giants' cards in the U.K. starting next year.
The state will raise its weight limits for trucks carrying goods into and out of its ports in an effort to alleviate bottlenecks in the supply chain and free up docks in Los Angeles and Long Beach.
Europe: Auto sales tumbled to their lowest level in October, with manufacturers hoping the protracted shortage of chipslicing production is finally easing.
The Bayers CEO said labor costs will increase next year, as multinational pharmaceutical companies grapple with their supply chains.
In an episode of Stephanieomics, host Stephanie Flanders talks with NEF editorial director Andrew Browne about Singapore's intention to move forward with the New Economy Forum's annual meeting of political, business and academic leaders.
On the Bloomberg Terminal
In the week ended Nov. 13, North American rail traffic fell 45%, according to AAR data. There are more issues surrounding intermodal traffic following washouts near Vancouver, plus record congestion at Southern California ports. Bloomberg Intelligence says supply chains may take a breather during the Lunar New Year to try and clear some of the backlog at ports and inland terminals.
According to Bloomberg Intelligence, automakers have thousands of components to manage and few options for preventing supply disruptions such as the chip shortages that have tainted global supply.
شحنة AHOY tracks global commodities trade flows.
Here are automated stories about supply chains.
BNEF provides BloombergNEF's analysis of clean energy, advanced transport, digital industry, innovative materials, and commodities.
VRUS has news and data about the Coronavirus, while here you can view maps and charts.
Like Supply Lines?
this post Dont keep it to yourself. Colleagues and friends can sign up here. Our New Economy Daily, a briefing on the latest economic developments, is also published.