Looking ahead to 2024, the air cargo industry will still face a high degree of uncertainty — just as is the case in other industries around the world. In the air freight sector, there will be unexpected changes in demand and pricing, for example. To overcome this uncertainty is a huge challenge.
How can companies master this? They need to recognize the changes quickly, and they need to be flexible so they can adapt to any new circumstances. Therefore, information plays an important role that will continue to grow next year; that’s what we notice at BlueBox Systems every day doing our job. Regarding air freight tracking, for example, customers demand transparency. To be flexible and handle unexpected challenges, they need every piece of information possible, like real-time tracking or delays.
In 2024, cargo owners will further try to reduce their carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and their air cargo footprints. We see that right now at BlueBox Systems because our CO2 tracking is more and more demanded by our customers. This topic will become even more important in the air cargo industry next year.
From my point of view, decarbonization has the potential to disrupt the business and to transform the roles and the balance between shippers, freight forwarders and carriers. It offers new opportunities for newcomers and existing players to drastically change — and improve — their market position, if they are able to use this development to their advantage.
But these changes need enormous investments, and they will be costly. So maybe the players with the largest financial leverage will be the ones who gain most. Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) is a good example of this; access to SAF is largely held by big players.