19th October 2026 – Hong Kong, S.A.R. – a weekly air cargo bulletin for industry journalists interested in logistics and supply chains.  

UPDATE on air cargo 19-OCTOBER-2026
Intelligence Update

Global air freight rates surged higher again last week according to the latest data from TAC Index, the leading price reporting agency on air freight markets and calculating agent for the Baltic Air Freight indices. The global Baltic Air Freight Index (BAI00) gained +4.7% over seven days to October 19, putting it ahead by +26.4% year-on-year – and already above the highest points of the last two peak seasons, which typically occur in the run-up to Thanksgiving in the US and Christmas in Europe. This year, rates were already starting from elevated levels following disruption to markets due to conflicts in the Middle East and Russia-Ukraine. That has also led to surging jet fuel prices – up +113.7% YoY to October 16 according to the latest IATA Jet Fuel Price Monitor – helping put a hard floor under rates at which airlines will carry cargo. 

The surge in rates was led by strong increases WoW in rates on the busiest lanes out of China to the US – and to a lesser extent to Europe, where rates have been lagging somewhat since July after a drop in volume since the end of the old de minimis exemption from customs duty for small parcels into the EU. BAI Spot rates out of Hong Kong and Shanghai have also been rising in recent days, while the full index of outbound routes from Hong Kong (BAI30) – reflecting the whole spectrum of spot and forward rates being paid – gained +5.3% WoW to leave it at +26.0% YoY. Outbound Shanghai (BAI80) jumped by +8.4% WoW to leave it at +22.3% YoY. Rates were also mostly firmer WoW out of other hubs in East Asia such as Seoul and Taiwan, and rising strongly out of India – though a little more mixed out of South East Asia from Bangkok and Hanoi. 

Rates from Europe were by contrast a little softer WoW after recent rises – with falls overall on Transatlantic lanes to the US as well as to India, Japan, Australia and South Africa – though also further gains on lanes to China, Mexico, Brazil and the UAE. The index of outbound routes from Frankfurt (BAI20) fell back by -6.6% WoW, though remained well up at +33.7% YoY. Outbound London Heathrow (BAI40) also slipped a little by -2.3% WoW though remained well above last year at +35.2% YoY. 

Out of North America, rates were mostly firmer WoW on lanes to China and elsewhere in Asia as well as to South America, led by further gains on the busiest routes southbound from Miami. However, rates were also a little lower from the US on Transatlantic lanes to Europe and the UK. The index of outbound routes from Chicago (BAI50) bounced back from the previous week’s steep fall, gaining +9.5% WoW to leave it too well up at +33.1% YoY. There was also a further big gain WoW in rates from Mexico to Europe, leaving them too, well up YoY. 

Go to TACIndex.com for all the specific data on individual lanes – including lanes recently added from the Greater Bay Area to Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, Seoul and Tokyo. You can also find information on the new TAC Terminal, an ‘Air Cargo Oracle’ designed to turn fragmented inputs into clear, actionable outputs (like a Bloomberg Terminal but for Air Cargo).

About TAC Index

TAC Index weekly pricing publications have changed the way forwarders, carriers and shippers as well as analysts can get insights into the air cargo industry. TAC acts as the Calculating Agent for the Baltic Exchange air cargo index (BAI), and as a strategic partner with Spire Global for live tracking of air cargo capacity utilization data. The fact that the indices are both fully antitrust and financial market compliant means they can also open up opportunities for the introduction of risk management tools that were not previously available to the air cargo industry. TAC Index is consolidating data shared by a broad representation of global and regional freight forwarders and airlines as it only uses transactional data. Statistical filtering using the proprietary algorithms is applied to generate truly representative general cargo indices.