Global supply chains have experienced unprecedented volatility, fuelled by heightened demand, COVID-shutdowns, congestion, and more. This has pushed freight rates to all-time highs.

For example, air cargo spot prices from Germany (FRA) to China (PVG) have skyrocketed 2.2X over the last three months to $3.53/kg. Fluctuating prices and changing capacity challenge carriers, forwarders, and importers/exporters struggling to accommodate the current freight landscape.

In an effort to provide transparency and support decision making, Freightos Data, part of the Freightos Group, is launching the Freightos Air Index, an air cargo index based on transactional air cargo prices.

FAX provides comprehensive pricing visibility across weight breaks, trade lanes, and hundreds of airport pairs. The index is published each Sunday with data from the prior week.

“The Digital Air Cargo revolution transformed air cargo into a modern, real-time and digitalised industry. eBookings on WebCargo by Freightos already encompass over 30 airlines and thousands of forwarders, with bookings growing 12X year on year,” said Zvi Schreiber, CEO of the Freightos Group.

“Real-time booking paves the way for real-time industry transparency. We’re proud to offer the same visibility to the air cargo industry that we’ve provided for ocean freight with the Freightos Baltic Index.”

“The highly volatile air freight markets during the pandemic showed once again how important it is to have transparency on market developments,” said Matthias Mentschel, head of global warehouse & transportation at Bayer. “Better information leads to better decisions, which in the end benefits our patients & consumers.”

The FAX is in a free open beta phase, as additional lanes and features continue to be made available. It consists of a headline index of pricing across global air cargo lanes, weighted based on trade lane activity, as well as price comparisons across trade lanes, airport pairs, and weight breaks.