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“ Sidelining traditional customers and the increased reliance on a single segment could leave the industry vulnerable to sudden shifts in consumer behavior or geopolitical events .”
Martin Schulze
“ The traditional gateways will always have a place in the market , but the future belongs to the nimble airports that can deliver a complete cross dock ( wheels down to dock load-out ) in a few hours .”
Curtis Spencer and Steve Schellenberg
“ Capacity has grown less than half the rate of demand growth , which has had the effect of increasing aircraft utilization , load factors and yields . Again , we expect to see the growth in capacity to remain below demand as we move into 2025 .”
Glyn Hughes
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BlueBox Systems
Martin Schulze
CEO www . bluebox-systems . com
The air freight industry in 2025 will face a multitude of challenges , many of which are beyond its direct control . Geopolitical tensions and trade disputes might disrupt supply chains and create uncertainty . To navigate these turbulent waters , the industry must remain vigilant and advocate for free trade and the merits of global trade .
The e-commerce boom in Asia will put further pressure on the air freight industry in the coming year . The share of these goods on the overall air freight volume will continue to increase .
While this trend presents a substantial opportunity for growth , it also carries inherent risks . Sidelining traditional customers and the increased reliance on a single segment could leave the industry vulnerable to sudden shifts in consumer behavior or geopolitical events . Potential backlash against e-commerce , driven by political measures , could also lead to overcapacity and economic instability .
The industry must strike a delicate balance between capitalizing on growth opportunities and mitigating risks . The potential for rapid shifts in demand , coupled with the high costs of air freight , necessitates a flexible and adaptable approach . By diversifying customer bases and optimizing operations , carriers can better position themselves to weather potential storms .
Our sector faces significant hurdles in achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 . While technological advancements may offer some solutions , such as sustainable aviation fuels , the scale of the challenge is immense .
To meet these stringent decarbonization requirements , the industry will need to invest heavily in both fleet modernization and alternative fuel research . However , the costs associated with these initiatives will ultimately be borne by consumers . As such , it is imperative for the industry to engage
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with stakeholders to develop sustainable solutions that balance economic viability with environmental responsibility .
IMS Worldwide
Curtis Spencer President and CEO
Steve Schellenberg
Sr . Vice President , Logistics and Business Development www . imsw . com
The world is discovering that the extensive key element of demand is requiring goods to reach buyers in under 4 days from order to receipt . Most new demands have a truly short attention time frame , making air cargo the now-required mode of choice . There will be shifts in regulations ( de minimis rule ) and stiffer import rules , but the ability to buy in the “ each ” category from an overseas vendor and receive goods in a few days is the genie model that will never go back into the bottle . The biggest problem for the air cargo industry now and tomorrow is to determine how to participate or contribute to the contraction of the timeline between order and delivery . Airports must look at all aspects of their services — from taxi time for inbound freighters to turn times from offload to Customs clearance until the cargo is in the last-mile carrier ’ s hands — and all services that facilitate this new model .
Congestion , taking 24 to 48 hours from unload to last-mile conveyance departure , will drive carriers to shift to competing airports that can produce compressed timelines . Airports must perform or they will find cargo moving toward more efficient airports with long runways such as Chicago Rockford , Greenville-Spartanburg , Phoenix-Mesa Gateway , Perot Field Fort Worth and others where infrastructure and connectivity to large populations are available to the carriers and delivery contractors .
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This is the future of air cargo ; the traditional gateways will always have a place in the market , but the future belongs to the nimble airports that can deliver a complete cross dock ( wheels down to dock load-out ) in a few hours . The foreign companies that learn how to pre-sort package volumes into local or regional city deliveries to allow cargo to deplane and be pushed into a soon-to-depart delivery van will be the drivers behind this shift to efficient and well-located airports .
The International Air Cargo Association ( TIACA )
Glyn Hughes
Director General www . tiaca . org
Demand for air cargo has grown in excess of 10 % year over year for the majority of months in 2024 . This trend is expected to continue into 2025 , although the pace of growth is expected to slow . Capacity has grown less than half the rate of demand growth , which has had the effect of increasing aircraft utilization , load factors and yields . Again , we expect to see the growth in capacity to remain below demand as we move into 2025 . A deeper assessment of these numbers indicates that e-commerce shipments , primarily from Asia and particularly from China , accounts for about 20 % of total global air cargo volumes . The growth of Temu and Shein , especially as they open up new markets , has generated double-digit month-over-month gains for most of the current year . Projections suggest that e-commerce demand is still increasing , therefore we can anticipate that the current strong growth will continue . In order to satisfy this demand for air cargo , airlines have been repositioning freighter aircraft from other regions into Asia . This , in turn , has caused some short-term challenges to provide the required amount of capacity in other regions . To address this challenge , some aircraft originally scheduled for retirement have been deferred and continue in service .
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