Trends in Air Freight Capacity Available to Purchase

The question of the role to be played by air freight in international distribution systems has always been controversial. Airlines have been only too willing to extol what are, by now, the well‐known benefits of air freight: that it can reduce packing, insurance, inventory and warehousing costs, and allow for comparatively risk‐free test marketing. However, within the distribution industry, whilst the usefulness of air freight for emergency and perishable shipments is not in doubt, there is still concern over the high levels of air freight rates compared to those of surface transport, the often poor standards of air freight ground handling, and the limited speed and service advantage which air transport holds over surface operators on short haul routes.