As for some of my friends and connections, last year was not the best for me from many points of view… so I harboured great expectations for 2026. I always nourish big hopes for the New Year, unsurprisingly, as we always expect a wave of love all over the world, when a mystic, collective frenzy for partying follows the course of our artificially created timelines. We all hope that turning the page on the last day in December will start a new and promising period in January, but the news on Jan 1st 2026 was either tragic or puzzling.
      Many Europeans, Italians in particular as many of the victims were indeed Italians, were awakened by the disaster in Crans-Montana, CH, where a number of teenage partygoers lost their lives in a fire. Venezuela topped the bill on the next day for reasons everyone knows by now; on balance it is difficult to consider Maduro’s capture purely as good news. Greenland is making Europeans, and perhaps even some Americans, wonder what happens next. In all this, air cargo seemed to take the back seat and enjoy a peaceful ride into the new year, but is it really so peaceful in our backyard?  Probably not, if we have to judge by some respectable publications confusing 2026 forecast with last year’s, but who are we to judge? In the end they might even be right . . .   
      Sabiha and I had a chat, started with our best wishes for the holidays, and inevitably we ended talking business and having a go at our 2025 articles. We decided to retrospectively consider what last year’s events could mean in 2026 and perhaps further afield. 

Port Strike Averted Tunnel Achievements

      This being said, the aspect of the new U.S. administration’s measures that most captured our readers’ attention was, even above the five letter word ‘tariff’ (smile please…), ‘de minimis’. The concept was featured in one, two and three articles that were amongst those topping the list of our readership. The last of these articles ends with a phrase that I particularly like and describes the meandering ways which international trade has to circumvent and overwhelm whatever obstacle it finds on its path. In the end trade always wins, even the most pugnacious of our governors, even the harshest measures to contain it. We are all eventually getting older and weaker, including our leaders, but trade persistently flows even after they are gone.

     At FT we are trying to provide our readers with a decent account of what happens in the area of air cargo, often expanding to trade and logistics in general. We all know how important are the rules of the game and how much these have been modified over the course of many years. Security and compliance are today the guiding principles that create the framework where international traders operate, so this is an aspect that our readers cannot ignore. Consequently, we try to build conversations with those who are in a position to guide us in the complex area of rules and rulemaking. Readers told us that our article on the compliance galaxy was extremely useful to them: nothing could make us happier.  Similar comments were made by those who appreciated the IT and technology related articles; in particular, one of our conversations seemed to have expanded the technology horizon for our readers. We are really grateful for the contributions of the personalities, who generously parted with their knowledge and experience for the benefit of our community.  
      Air Cargo means also social interaction, celebration and fun. This normally happens at trade shows and large air cargo gatherings. Celebrations and tradeshows were amply featured all year long, but we also devoted much of our time to listening to educational conversations. The air cargo industry prides itself of its long standing collaboration with universities and learning institutions all over the world. The Embry Riddle Aeronautical University entertained two champions of our industry talking about Air Cargo’s Strategic Role in Global Trade. We couldn’t have missed for the world, so we tuned in and listened carefully.  We auspiciously closed this article shouting “Long Live Air Cargo!”.

      In the end 2025 was the year that was and I still believe 2026 will be better for everybody. That is how we always walk into the future: with big hopes and finger crossed. This kind of cautious expectation always reminds me of Susan Sarandon’s role in the Rocky Horror Picture Show, her incredulous eyes exposed to the bewildering scenes of the comedy. Disquieting, yet audacious and full of unexpected hope for the future, this film took a long journey to immortal fame, but is now considered a thorough masterpiece.  Its double feature picture show song still rings in our ears fifty years after its release and – fifty years after its release –  “it is the longest-running theatrical release in film history”, as Wikipedia puts it.  
      It’s a wrap, ladies and gentlemen: that was our own double feature for the year we have just left. Difficult to predict how all this will sound in the next fifty years, if ever. So let’s walk into the future in 2026 with big hopes and fingers crossed.
Marco L. Sorgetti

FlyingTalkers

LGA MAT Rescued

     Pictured on a wet street in the evening in Munich, Germany, the bright yellow electric powered vehicle is illuminated, contrasting with the dark urban background and surrounding apartment buildings.
     This scene highlights the beauty of air cargo and the innovative steps being taken towards sustainable delivery solutions.

     India’s air cargo sector is navigating a delicate moment. Volumes remain strong, export composition is steadily upgrading, and global airlines are deepening their exposure to the Indian market. Yet financial stress across airlines—both passenger carriers dependent on belly cargo and dedicated freighter operators—is intensifying. Costs remain high, yields are under pressure, and recent passenger-side disruptions, most visibly the IndiGo crisis, exposed how fragile parts of the system still are.
     And yet, despite these pressures, India’s air cargo machine did not break.
     That resilience is easy to miss in headline numbers. What it reveals is a cargo ecosystem mature enough to absorb a significant passenger-side shock, even while grappling with deep structural weaknesses in sustainability.
     The flight cancellations and delays at IndiGo, India’s largest airline and a major source of belly-hold cargo capacity, caused uneven but sharp disruption. Pune, a key hub for perishables and industrial cargo in western Maharashtra, was hit hardest. Strawberries, roses, exotic vegetables, automotive parts and vaccine consignments were stranded. Airport throughput briefly collapsed by about 55%, falling to roughly 90 tonnes a day from the usual 180–190 tonnes. For farmers and small logistics operators shipping uninsured perishables, losses ran into several lakh rupees within days.
     Crucially, the disruption remained localized. There were no nationwide choke points. Freight forwarders rerouted shipments, integrators leaned on proprietary networks, and airports prioritised cargo clearance amid the passenger chaos. Industry-wide data shows no material decline in national cargo volumes during the period. The system bent—but did not fracture.
     That ability to absorb a passenger shock without a systemic cargo breakdown marks a quiet but important step in the maturation of India’s logistics ecosystem.
     The longer-term picture is more complex. India has never moved more freight by air. Airports Authority of India data shows roughly 1.2 million metric tonnes were handled between April and July 2025 alone. Overall freight volumes rose 4.8% year-on-year between April and September FY26, with domestic cargo up 5.9% and international cargo up 4.1%.
     International routes remain the main growth engine. Volumes rose 18% year-on-year in the second half of FY24, and are expected to grow 11–13% in FY25. Major hubs have surged: Delhi’s international cargo rose 17.7%, Bengaluru’s 23.7% and Mumbai’s 14% between April 2024 and January 2025.
     Yet growth has not translated into profitability. Blue Dart Aviation—the express cargo arm of DHL in India—is the rare outlier, posting a ₹71 crore profit, protected by long-term, premium, time-definite contracts. Most other operators, especially independent freighter airlines, remain under severe strain. Expanding belly capacity has crushed yields, fuel and leasing costs remain elevated, and airport charges inflated by royalty-linked revenue models have turned volume growth into a financial trap.
     Passenger‌ airlines have the ability to lower their cargo rates as compared to the cargo division of the same airlines because the losses are lessened through the ticket revenue. A cargo-only airline does not have such a cushion. Cargo-only flights are increasingly being removed from the routes which they used to follow as passenger fleets are gradually coming back to their normal strength.
     Disruptions in global trade have changed the pattern of cargo shipments. Indian air freight to the US is at its lowest level in the last nine years after the U.S. imposed sharp tariff hikes. The data of DGCA signify that the exports to the U.S. dropped from 7,152 tonnes in the first half of 2024 to 4,319 tonnes in the first half of the year 2025. The exports of handicrafts, engineering goods, gems, jewellery and garments have been significantly curtailed, with order volumes lowering as the landed prices drastically increase.
          However, the industry has not fallen apart, but rather has transformed. The freight has been redirected to Asia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East which have released the North American market from its pressure. The airlines of Asia-Pacific have been able to register strong freight growth even when the trade routes have been changed, thus, confirming the role of air freight as a stabilizer in the volatile markets.
     Below this bounce-back is the deep structural change. Indian exporters are choosing air freight more and more on the grounds of speed and reliability rather than cost. This is especially true of pharmaceuticals of which exports advanced 7.3% year-on-year to $12.76 billion between April and August 2025. The main reason behind this trend is that vaccines, injectables and biologics can only be shipped by air if transit times are to be cut from months to days.
     Electronics is the second largest contributor. The electronics export value soared 41.9% year-on-year to $22.2 billion between April and September 2025, with the biggest contributor being smartphones. In order to fulfill the tight global launching schedules, huge volumes are flown through air freight as Apple and Samsung ramp up India-based manufacturing.
     Moreover, gems and jewellery, automotive components, seafood, flowers and fruits are the examples of sectors which continue pushing air freight as a necessary part of their infrastructure, not as a luxury.
     The global airline industry understands and accepts the challenge as an opportunity. The open partnerships and cargo-centric alliances are major factors that contribute to India's growing integration with the global trade corridors. The domestic situation is very promising as policymakers have set high goals: they expect cargo throughput to reach 10 million tonnes by 2030 and 21 million tonnes by 2047. By that time, the goals will be met through cargo-centered airports, faster processing, and efficiency ‍‌reforms.
     For now, India’s air cargo sector operates in a narrow corridor between pressure and progress. If high airport charges and uneven infrastructure persist, losses among freighter operators will deepen even as volumes rise. Growth without profitability is not sustainable.
     Yet under stress, the system has shown resilience; amid disruption, adaptability; and in a fractured global trade environment, relevance. Whether India can convert those strengths into durable profitability will determine if today’s paradox becomes tomorrow’s advantage—or a lingering constraint.

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