Air transport

Air freight transport has been growing faster than world trade for the past fifty years: its market share is steadily increasing. Advances in aeronautical technology, carriers' marketing initiatives and changes in physical flow management methods are the main growth drivers for a mode of transport that accounts for around 1% by weight but 25% by value of world international trade.

Air freight is also a minority business for airlines; passenger transport generates around 85% of revenues, but the dispersion around this average is considerable.

The fundamental economic feature of air freight is a paradoxical character that can be expressed as follows: how can a higher transport price be transformed into a more advantageous distribution cost for certain product categories and in certain circumstances?

After devoting the first part of this dossier to solving this apparent enigma, we will successively review the resources deployed (capacities, loading units, ground facilities, IT systems), the players involved in air freight (customers, airlines, freight agents and airports), and its marketing (segmentation of the offer, pricing, revenue management – revenue optimization –, transport documents), the place of e-commerce and e-business. We conclude by examining three major issues on which the future of this mode of transport partly depends:

• the environment ;

• SAFETY ;

• alliances.

Readers are invited to consult the [1][2][3][4] references. .