Air freight
"A service providing for the air transport of goods. The volume of air freight has been increasing significantly due to:
1. decreased shipping time,
2. greater inventory control for just-in-time manufacturing and stocking,
3. generally superior condition of goods upon arrival, and
4. for certain commodities, lower shipping costs"
Hinkelmann, E.G. 2008. Dictionary of International Trade 8th Edition. California, USA: World Trade Press
Air shipments started just soon after invention of self-propelled aircrafts beginning of the 20th century. [Clausen 1998, pp. 139-146]
Due to the limited power of the early flight engines merely letters on behalf of the postal companies have been able to be transported.
While aircraft were powered by heavy piston engines the size was limited and the payload low. Passenger transport and mail services have been the airlines main business. [Murphy/Wood 2004, pp. 381-387]
In the 1960’s the introduction of much more powerful jet engines allowed to build much bigger carrying more payload. [Clausen 1998, pp. 139-146]
Today there are different kind and different sizes of aircraft which can be used as combined passenger/freight or pure freight carriers. The maximum payload of the biggest freight aircrafts is about 120t. [Clausen 1998, pp. 139-146]
The airline industry has developed and implemented a set of standard shipping units called ULD’s (Unit Load Device) in order to optimize the handling and space utilization.
Freight compartment in aircrafts are equipped with a walking floor and lashing points for easy handling and securing.
The international association of the airline industry is called IATA and based in Montreal. The IATA is issuing the so-called IATA rules as general terms and conditions which aim at the provision of safe and secure transportation to its passengers.
International Airline business is based on the convention of Warsaw (1929), The Hague (1955) and Montreal (1999) which are multinational agreements.
Airline industry has initiated a project called Cargo 2000 in order to achieve more transparency, visibility and efficiency among the involved parties. A detailed description of Cargo 2000 will be in chapter Electronic Marketplaces (ELM).
