Dynamic pricing arrives in air cargo with AF KLM and WebCargo
23 / 04 / 2019
Freightos' Zvi Schreiber and Marcel de Nooijer of AF KLM
Air France KLM Martinair Cargo (AF KLMP) and Freightos-owned booking portal WebCargo have launched a new partnership that they claim will bring dynamic pricing to air cargo for the first time.
The partners said that the more than 1,400 forwarders using the WebCargo portal will be able to instantly view live rates, assess capacity availability, and secure cargo bookings on specific flights in real-time.
They said that this would reduce the billions in costs that the industry incurs trying to stay abreast of changing fees and untapped capacity, “sometimes turning the sales process for an hours-long flight into a process that extends days”.
“This will ensure improved transit times and significant cost savings for airlines, forwarders and shippers, as well as improved capacity utilisation,” AF KLMP and WebCargo said.
Trials were last month carried out with Panalpina to test the service. Real-time eBookings will be launched in a number of countries and gradually expanded. The system also supports manual online ad hoc pricing.
Marcel de Nooijer, executive vice president of Air France KLM Cargo & managing director Martinair Holland, said: “Air France KLM Martinair Cargo is committed to be a leading player in transforming our industry online. Our online platform myCargo exemplifies our ambition ‘to be easy to do business with’.
“Our latest partnership with WebCargo by Freightos provides our customers and partners a convenient and fast digital interface to our products and services, and it stipulates time and again that our strategy ‘be there, where the customer is’, is the right one.”
Markus Muecke, global head of airfreight procurement and product management at Panalpina, added: “Online quotation and booking are key features of Panalpina’s goal to make airfreight more efficient for our customers. WebCargo’s support of instant dynamic pricing and ebooking with one of our preferred partners, Air France KLM, means faster operations and, more importantly, improved service for our customers.”
WebCargo chief executive Manel Galindo added: “Air France KLM is one of the world’s largest airline groups, which has developed unparalleled digital capabilities stemming from a commitment to offering best-in-class customer service. As a recent benchmarking study we conducted confirms, Air France KLM Cargo is one of the cargo industry’s leaders bringing freight online. We’re proud to play a role in their success.”
Dynamic pricing uses algorithms to automatically adjust prices based on data such as supply and demand and the amount of time until an event takes place. It is used by a range of industries, for example the music industry for concerts and the aviation industry for passenger travel. It typically rewards customers that book when there is plenty of spare supply and pushes up prices as demand increases.
