
Air cargo is any property carried or to be carried in an aircraft. Air cargo comprises air freight, air express and airmail.
Full Answer
What are the different types of air cargo?
3 Terms and Types of Air Cargo You Need to Know 1 A. General Cargo. General Cargo is ordinary shipment items so it does not need to require special handling, but still must meet the specified requirements and safety aspects. 2 B. Special Cargo. Special cargo is shipment items that require special handling. ... 3 C. Dangerous Goods. ...
What is special cargo in air transport?
This type of goods can basically be transported by air transport and must meet the requirements and special handling in accordance with IATA regulations and or carrier. Goods or materials included in the special cargo category are: Live Animal (AVI) are live animals sent by airplane such as chicks, horses, goats, fish etc.
What are the goods transported by aircraft?
They are the goods transported by aircraft. It may contain anything ranging from mails to freight. There are different types of transportation such as passenger, cargo and combi.
What is general cargo in international shipping?
General Cargo is ordinary shipment items so it does not need to require special handling, but still must meet the specified requirements and safety aspects. Examples of goods that are categorized as general cargo include: household goods, office equipment, sports equipment, clothing (garment, textiles) and others.

What is the meaning of air cargo?
Definition of air cargo : express, freight, or mail carried by aircraft.
What are the 3 types of air transportation?
3 Types of Air ServiceExpress Air Service. Express air service means your cargo is hoping on a flight straight to its destination. ... Standard Air Service. While on occasion, a standard air service may fly direct to destination, it usually includes one or two stops along the way. ... Deferred Air Service.
What are the three separate elements of air cargo services?
Air cargo comprises air freight, air express and airmail.
What are the three basic components of the air transport system?
1 Background. The air transport system consists of three main components: airports, ATC (air traffic control) system, and airlines. The airports accommodate the airline aircraft at the beginning and end of their flights and in between, serving the passengers and freight cargo demand.
What are the types of air cargo?
There are two types of air cargo – general and special cargo. General cargo includes high-value goods, such as electronics, jewellery and pharmaceuticals.
What are the major categories of air transport?
8 types of air transport around the worldAeroplanes.Helicopters.Hot air balloons.Blimps.Gliders.
How many types of cargo are there?
The two main categories are general and bulk cargo. General cargo is unitized (carried in defined load units), while bulk cargo is loose (carried in any quantity).
How many types of air transport are there?
Air travel is a form of travel in vehicles such as airplanes, jet aircraft, helicopters, hot air balloons, blimps, gliders, hang gliders, parachutes, or anything else that can sustain flight.
What is the process of air cargo?
After accepting shipments ready for carriage, airport cargo and ground handling personnel can prepare the air cargo for flight. The goods in transit must be received and security cleared once again. Goods left on the aircraft that are in transit are considered transit cargo.
What is the difference between air cargo and air freight?
Exploring Basic Definitions To clarify this further, cargo refers to the goods carried by a third-party aircraft, while an air freight company moves this cargo onto their plane. While the term cargo can be used interchangeably with freight, it refers to what a plane carries versus how it is carried.
What is the meaning of air transport?
Air transportation is the movement of passengers and freight by any conveyance that can sustain controlled flight.
What are the 5 air transport?
Planes, jets, rockets, helicopters, and drones are all examples of air transport. Recreational usage of hot air balloons, blimps, gliders, hang gliders and other types of air travel is an option.
What are the 5 types of air transportation?
Types of air transportCommercial airplanes.Helicopters.Private planes.Blimps.Gliders.hang gliders.Zeppelin.parachute.
What are the 5 air transport?
Planes, jets, rockets, helicopters, and drones are all examples of air transport. Recreational usage of hot air balloons, blimps, gliders, hang gliders and other types of air travel is an option.
How many types of air transport are there?
Air travel is a form of travel in vehicles such as airplanes, jet aircraft, helicopters, hot air balloons, blimps, gliders, hang gliders, parachutes, or anything else that can sustain flight.
What is the name of air transport?
Some modes of transport that are used for air travel are Aeroplanes, Helicopters, Hot Air Balloons, and Gliders.
How much silk did the Antonov AN-225 carry?
It carried 91 Kilograms (200 lbs) of silk from Dayton to Columbus, a distance of around 200 km (125 miles). The largest cargo aircraft around the world is the Antonov AN-225 with a loading capacity of 250,000 kilograms (or 1,100 cubic meters) Hong Kong is the busiest international air cargo airport around the world.
What is air freight?
Airfreight is not a simple service based on loading the needed items on board of the plane to reach the destination airport. There are two main branches of air freight services. 1. General Cargo: This type of service is usually less in price than the Special Cargo service. Transit time may be sometimes longer.
What is PAX in aviation?
Passenger Aircraft (PAX): This aircraft is more commercially used, airlines usually transport passengers with a space in the aircraft for cargo as well. However, the cargo area in an aircraft has priorities for loading; for example, the first priority comes to diplomatic mail, then passengers’ luggage, then courier shipments, and last comes the general cargo. So don’t be surprised if your shipment was offloaded due to a lack of capacity even though you had a booking.
What is temperature controlled?
Temperature Controlled: This service is for the items that require to be stored under a certain temperature due to the special nature of the cargo. Such as fruits, vegetables, medical kits, .. etc.
What are some examples of general cargo?
Example of General Cargo: Clothing (in boxes and palletized), Computers and computer parts (no battery included), books, … etc.
Is CAO more expensive than PAX?
But it is important to keep in mind that CAO service is more expensive than PAX even when you ship general cargo. In some countries, like the USA, there is a classification indicating “known” and “unknown” shippers based on their history of exporting.
Is air freight expensive?
People who are not trying the air freight service very often may have two main assumptions; the first one is that air freight is very expensive, and the second one is that air freight is a simple one type of service from one airport to another for cargo with special handling or short shelf life, such as gold, human tissue, blood samples, … etc.
What is general cargo?
General cargo are items that do not fall into the Special Cargo categories and that do not require any extra precautions or special handling during air transport . These types of items are retail and most consumer goods (with the exception of mobile phones, tablets and laptops) , dry goods, hardware, textiles, and more. Think of your average, everyday objects; most of those would fall into the general cargo area.
What rules and regulations apply to air cargo?
If you are wondering what rules and regulations apply to air cargo, there is a lot that has gone into the creation of them. Each type of cargo has its own set of rules and regulations. These have been created from a variety of entities from ICAO, to different government agencies to various airlines themselves, which is why IATA has created the manuals to break them down in an easy-to-understand, simplified manner.
What are airfreight and air cargo?
Airfreight refers to products that are moved and imported on a commercial air carrier or charter. Typically used by logistics companies, air shipping is used to import products in bulk for both individuals and organisations. Freight forwarding companies facilitate the use of airfreight and are essentially the middle man when getting the goods from one location to another. There are many commercial airlines that are used for air shipping, including British Airways PLC and West Atlantic PLC.
How is Air Freight and Cargo Calculated?
As the import and export of goods via air is to be an efficient method, the calculations and preparation to carry cargo have to be accurate. A charter’s capacity will very much dictate how much cargo it can hold and carry. There are equations to make sure that this is correct.
What are the Disadvantages of Air Freight?
Although air freight bears many advantages, just like with any alternative method of transportation, there are downfalls to selecting this way of shipping goods and products.
What are the Logistics of Air Freight?
When it comes to understanding the process of air freight, it starts at the source. This is the demand for a product and placing an order accordingly. As a business or a manufacturer, you can decide, taking into account cost and time, whether or not air freight is for you and then once you have decided you can begin the process.
How Does Air Freight Work?
From car parts and military equipment to medical supplies and consumables, there are different sets of operations and types of air carriers that are more fitting to particular goods than others. The constant technological development of aircraft means that the range of goods that can be moved is becoming more and more diverse.
What are the different types of transport?
There are different types of transportation such as passenger, cargo and combi. Spare volume not used for luggage of commuters is used in the passenger aircraft. Cargo can also be transported in the passenger cabin as hand-carry by an “on-board courier”. Air transport plays a huge role in logistics and trade, managing and controlling the flow ...
How many categories are there in management dictionary?
Browse the definition and meaning of more similar terms. The Management Dictionary covers over 2000 business concepts from 5 categories.
What are the Last Steps Before Delivery?
Once the truck has collected the goods from the carrier’s domain it is transferred to the freight forwarder hub where it’s unloaded and checked. Often before goods are dispatched via a Forwarder Branch Facility before being handed to the Consignee and then they are finally delivered to the final customer. These steps fall under the following chapters of the ICHM where you’ll find more details about each step:
What is the IATA Cargo Handling Manual?
The IATA Cargo Handling Manual (ICHM) is a publication of the most current recommended practices for airline stakeholders to follow. It gives all the required documentation in an accessible step-by-step format. It was developed by an IATA council named the ICHC (IATA Cargo Handling Consultative Council) founded in 2011 by the Cargo Advisory Council (CAC). "The IATA Cargo Handling Manual (ICHM) covers all working instructions door to door, from shipper to consignee, with a strong focus on airport to airport activities where cargo handlers and airlines operate," according to André Majeres, Cargo Mail & E-Commerce Operations Manager at IATA.
Where to Find More Information?
You can find more information about the most up-to-date cargo handling guidelines that are strict enough to cover each airline in the IATA Cargo Handling Manual (ICHM). In it, you will find everything you need to be compliant with the rules and regulations, and to follow the 19 steps of the MOP to mitigate the risks when handling air cargo.
What is ready for carriage check?
When accepting shipment as ready for carriage, airport cargo and ground handling personnel must take several steps to meet the requirements to ship goods by air. First, they must verify if the shipments are security cleared. Then they must perform a ready-for carriage check. This entails verifying that all the information aligns with the actual shipment and ensuring all embargoes and operational restrictions are applied. Once everything has been checked, the information is validated against the booking and updated. The primary objective is to ensure the consignments are in compliance with
What is the primary objective of air cargo acceptance and handling?
The primary objective for air cargo acceptance and handling is to ensure that consignments are ready for carriage in compliance with operator and IATA regulations, as well as with export and import rules of the countries through which the cargo will transit. In general, all items to be transported using commercial aircraft must pass through an acceptance process. There are certain procedures that must be followed regardless of the type of cargo. Other procedures may only apply to certain types of cargo.
What is cargo handling?
Cargo handling is the segment of the supply chain which processes goods landside in the cargo facility. From the delivery at the airport of origin until it is ready for loading on the plane, to the unloading at destination and handover to the consignee/freight forwarder, many steps are involved with cargo handling that must be closely followed to ensure shipments are delivered safely and securely. These steps are found in the cargo Master Operating Plan (MOP).
What is MOP in shipping?
The Master Operating Plan (MOP) describes the key processes and sub-processes involved in transporting air cargo from shipper to consignee in a systematic and harmonized manner. It provides the air cargo supply chain with the first, industry-endorsed, standard description of the end-to-end process for transporting cargo by air.
What are the main categories of air cargo?from icao.int
The main categories of air cargo include dangerous goods, live animals, and humanitarian aid, as well as perishable, temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals, chemicals, food and ornamental plants. An illustrative example of the importance of air cargo in some developed economies is Colombia.
How has air cargo security evolved?from commercialfreightservices.com
This all-cargo security mandate is simply the next step in an ever-evolving set of procedures and standards for keeping passenger and cargo aircraft flying safely. Security processes and procedures will continue to change over time as intelligence on potential threats is updated.
What are the regulations for air transport?from icao.int
Regulation and Guidance Materials 1 ICAO Annex 6 — Operation of Aircraft, Part I — International Commercial Air Transport — Aeroplanes 2 ICAO Annex 18 — Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods by Air 3 Technical Instructions for The Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods by Air (Doc 9284) 4 Emergency Response Guidance for Aircraft Incidents Involving Dangerous Goods (Doc 9481) 5 Guidance for Safe Operations Involving Aeroplane Cargo Compartments (Doc 10102) 6 Guidance on a Competency-based Approach to Dangerous Goods Training and Assessment (Doc 10147)
Why is cargo not being screened at the airport?from commercialfreightservices.com
They include: Cargo arriving at the airport is often already palletized. This can make it impossible to screen completely without breaking up the pallet.
What is the TSA?from commercialfreightservices.com
The U .S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is working with the air cargo industry to determine the best and safest way to implement these security standards. In April 2020, the TSA published a Request for Information (RFI) inviting all-cargo operators and stakeholders to submit comments and participate in a (virtual) public meeting.

What Is General Cargo?
- General cargo are items that do not fall into the Special Cargo categories and that do not require any extra precautions or special handling during air transport. These types of items are retail and most consumer goods (with the exception of mobile phones, tablets and laptops) , dry goods, hardware, textiles, and more. Think of your average, everyd...
What Is Special Cargo?
- Special cargo is where things get a little more complicated. Special cargo are goods that, due to their nature, weight, dimensions and/or value, may have specific requirements including packaging, labelling, documentation and handling through the transport chain. The transport of these goods are addressed through specific regulations that must be followed when preparing, …
What Rules and Regulations Apply to Air Cargo?
- If you are wondering what rules and regulations apply to air cargo, there is a lot that has gone into the creation of them. Each type of cargo has its own set of rules and regulations. These have been created from a variety of entities from ICAO, to different government agencies to various airlines themselves, which is why IATA has created the manuals to break them down in an easy-to-under…
What Are The IATA Regulations?
- IATA regulations are based on the recommendations put in place by governing entities such as ICAO and standards built through industry working groups populated by member airline delegates and relevant industry associations who collaborate with IATA. IATA regulations go above and beyond ICAO rules to instill further assurances of safety and well-being for all parties involved in …
Where to Find More Information?
- Each year more than 52 billion tonnes of cargo are shipped by air, which means industry jobs are always in demand. If you are interested in getting started in the air cargo industry, a great way to start is by taking this introductory course HERE. And if you want to improve your organization’s procedures, safety, and efficiency and are ready for a step-by-step guide that provides instructio…