Digital aviation freight services to exceed $1.7 billion in revenue by 2024: ABI Research report

July 25, 2019: Near-term expectations are mixed for the transportation industry in 2019, said global tech market advisory firm ABI Research, in its Air Freight Transportation Technology Trends application analysis report.

According to the report, increasing air freight traffic is moving to APAC region, including Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore and the long-term outlook is strong.

The report talks about the technologies, that is the evolving air freight technologies transforming the industry that moves nearly 7 percent of the global Gross Domestic Product.

Escalating trade wars, industry consolidation, over capacity, and rising consumer expectations are adding tremendous pressure to both freight forwarders and air freight services. These forces are driving air freight technology services adoption to rise by a 17 percent CAGR, with connection revenues alone rising by 25 percent from 2018 to 2024, according to the report.

Digitising aviation freight services will improve business processes for slot reservations, goods tracking, online quoting, and digital invoicing.

“Beyond analytics and platforms, the international air freight industry will need to redefine the notion of delivery. Emerging opportunities include cold chain enhancements, near real-time visibility, and 30-minute deliveries via Unmanned Aircraft Systems,” said Susan Beardslee, Principal Analyst, Intelligent Transportation & eFreight at ABI Research.

The report raises a warning for the competitors who do not embrace the technological evolution and lag behind early adopters. The report says that they will have to face inefficiencies, decreased profits, their partners, and their customers.

Specialty services will continue to thrive such as Panalpina’s temperature-controlled offerings, IBS Software’s iCargo integrated SaaS platform, Kuehne + Nagel’s Enterprise Visibility tool, and Inseego’s C-Track insights. Expanding freight services include online marketplaces, ground equipment tracking and augmented reality for cargo sizing.

Based on extensive primary interviews, Application Analysis reports present in-depth analysis on key market trends and factors for a specific technology, the report concluded that direct bookings will become the norm as air freight carriers look to be closer to their shippers.

At the same time, disruptive vendors including Amazon and Alibaba/Cainiao are growing their presence and influence, poised to drive further integration and consolidation.

The digital evolution of modern air cargo will include the larger logistics picture from maritime to rail, over the road, and air, as well as connections to smart warehouses to address greater risk mitigation and margin/recurring revenue opportunities.

This report is part of the company’s Intelligent Transportation & eFreight research service, which includes research, data, and analyst insights.