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Airlines are increasingly adopting dynamic pricing, while fragmented booking channels and inconsistent data are making it harder for forwarders to quote customers and secure capacity.
Christos Spyrou, chief executive and founder of Neutral Air Partner, told The Loadstar Podcast airlines were increasingly shifting to dynamic pricing, either through their own or third-party digital portals.
“They’re going on the lower yield with the ecommerce and then offering the rest of the capacity on the spot market with dynamic rates to spot price and to maximise yield,” he explained.
He added that this trend was happening across “most of the world’s top 20 international cargo airlines”, especially on the main global tradelanes.
“Airlines want to react faster to market demand and maximise yields, so they are relying more on dynamic pricing and spot sales instead of fixed long-term rates. Long-term agreements are still important for strategic customers, but they are becoming more flexible and usually include dynamic pricing elements.”
Mr Spyrou said the move had fundamentally changed the way freight forwarders buy capacity, with rates and availability increasingly varying between airline websites and third-party booking platforms.
He explained: “You need to log into three or four different platforms – the airline’s and then on booking platforms for rates and capacity, the top three or top four well-known ones, and then you end up seeing completely different rates for the same flight, and different capacity on different portals, when you book, for example, cargo on a wide-body aircraft.
“It turns out there is a narrow-body aircraft. They cannot move your cargo, and then the system automatically rolls-over your cargo in the next seven to 10 days.
“You have no human to talk to, no customer service. That creates a huge, huge problem in the industry, and for the freight forwarder.”
According to Mr Spyrou, this is because airlines might choose to allocate different inventory to different sales channels, and not all booking platforms update at the same time. Meanwhile, some rates are based on special commercial agreements, while others are spot market prices.
“There is also a perception among some forwarders that certain booking platforms apply their own mark-up on selected airlines or tradelanes, which may explain why the same flight is offered at different prices. More transparency from both airline and booking platforms would certainly help build trust,” he said.
This was echoed by Aircon CEO and founder Chris Condon, who agreed that fragmented information had become an industry-wide issue.
“Freight forwarders increasingly need to check airline portals, booking platforms, direct agreements, emails, and other sources. Those sources may not match because they reflect different contracts, validity periods, surcharges, service conditions, and update cycles,” he told Лодстар.
Further, Mr Condon urged, dynamic pricing shortened the lifespan of a quotation, meaning that knowing which option can actually be sold, booked, and delivered as promised becomes a challenge.
“A rate may be accurate when it is sourced ,but no longer available when the customer says yes, leaving the forwarder to absorb the difference, reprice the shipment, change the service, or return to the customer with another option,” he explained.
“Dynamic pricing makes the forwarder’s judgment more important. The rate is only one input. The decision is the promise the forwarder is prepared to make based on what that particular customer values—cost, speed, reliability, or flexibility.”
Mr Spyrou also highlighted the operational issues when digital booking systems failed to reflect actual aircraft availability.
“It still happens, more often than it should, especially during busy periods or when flights are overbooked. In my experience, it happens more often with airlines that manage their own cargo sales rather than those using professional GSAs, as they usually have better control of capacity and closer communication with customers. General cargo is normally the most affected, while premium products and urgent shipments receive priority.”
He called for better integration between airline systems and digital booking platforms, but stressed technology should complement rather than replace customer service.
“I would like to see better real-time capacity updates, faster synchronisation between airline systems and booking platforms, and more transparency when capacity changes,” he suggested.
“At the same time, airlines should never forget that air cargo is still a people business. Digital booking platforms are a great tool, but they cannot replace experienced cargo teams who can solve problems, communicate quickly, and support customers when things go wrong. The best solution is a combination of digital efficiency and strong human support.”
Mr Condon suggested that digital platforms should illustrate clearly where the rate came from, when it was retrieved, what is included, whether space is indicative or confirmed, and what may still change before booking.
“The goal is not to create false certainty. It is to give the forwarder enough context to make a quote it can confidently stand behind,” he added.