Identify an Airport’s Existing Air Cargo Usage and Regional Air Cargo Flows

Understanding how air cargo currently flows in a region enables the identification of the opportunities as well as the challenges for airports in capturing shares of this cargo. The goals of this exercise include:

  • Assess the air cargo volumes flowing via airports in your region and determine air cargo shipments that originate in, are destined for, or transit through the area.
  • Identify the trends of air cargo in a region over time.
  • Describe the respective roles and air services of the airports in the region as they relate to air cargo.
  • Understand the types of goods shipped via air, the types of carriers involved in the shipping process and the geographic areas served by airports in the region.

A review of historic air cargo data can provide an understanding of existing commodity flows at your airport and throughout the region. Airports can use the current information to inform planning decisions for the future. As part of an effective planning process, airports should be able to answer the following questions regarding existing air cargo usage:

  • Which carriers use the airport for air cargo shipments?
  • How often do cargo shipments occur?
  • What products are currently being shipped from your airport? What products are being delivered to your market area?
  • Is the air cargo service scheduled or ad hoc?
  • If integrated express carriers (FedEx and UPS) are often trucking packages instead of flying, which regional airports do they use instead of your airport and how much shipping is done from your community per day/week/month?

To answer these planning questions, the airport can gather data from industry sources. The airport may also opt to conduct a surveys or interviews with stakeholders. Or a combination of both sources may be pursued.

The ACI-NA Air Cargo Guide, Chapter 3, Demand Forecasting Techniques presents a summary of the various data sources that can be utilized to determine air cargo volume and commodity flows. These include:

  • T-100 traffic reports which provide information for air freight and mail tonnage by air carrier, aircraft type, and airport.
  • Data collected from the U.S. Census Bureau from shipping documents (i.e. air waybills) that provide information on U.S. air imports and exports by U.S. states and foreign country markets in terms of weight, value, and commodity type.
  • Other general air cargo information reported by individual U.S. airports and industry associations such as the ACI-NA and the IATA. Air trade statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Foreign Trade Statistics database can provide insight.

In addition to these data sources it can also be helpful to conduct surveys and interviews of various stakeholder groups to understand air cargo usage and patterns including shippers and manufacturers from a variety of industries, freight forwarders, air carriers, airport service providers, governmental departments, Chambers of Commerce and economic development groups. For information on determining current companies that use air cargo at the airport and potential companies that have the potential to use air cargo, see Identify Current Air Cargo Use. An example of an air cargo survey is provided in the tools section.

Resources

Tools

  • FAF Data Tabulation Tool

    This website helps to obtain data on air cargo flows.

  • WISERTrade Website

    Data that provides additional information on international air cargo flows (paid service).

  • Metro Area Freight Profiles

    Interactive tool developed by Brookings Institution that provides freight summary information by metro area.

  • Commodity Flow Survey

    U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Transportation Statistics joint database that allows for an overview of the freight and air cargo flows between metro areas and regions.

  • Location Quotient Calculator

    BLS tool that provides an understanding of an area’s distribution of employment by industry compared to the rest of the country. Allows for an understanding of what industries, by NAICS codes are found in a region and includes 48 transportation related sectors. This will allow an airport a better understanding of the industry clusters located in the region and their possible reliance on air cargo.