21st September 2026 – Hong Kong, S.A.R. – a weekly air cargo bulletin for industry journalists interested in logistics and supply chains.  

UPDATE on air cargo 21-SEPTEMBER-2026
Intelligence Update

Global air freight rates edged up again last week according to the latest data from TAC Index, calculating agent for the Baltic Air Freight indices and leading price reporting agency for air freight markets. The global Baltic Air Freight Index (BAI00) gained +0.9%over seven days to September 21 – leaving the index now at +20.9% versus where it was a year ago, with rates remaining strong in the runup to the traditional peak season. With jet fuel rates now up more than double at +116.5% year-on-year to September 18, according to the IATA Jet Fuel Price Monitor, pressure for rates to rise further would seem to be increasing.

Rates on the busiest lanes out of China were firming up again WoW to Europe but a little lower to the US – though still up much more YoY on Transpacific lanes since volumes of small parcels to Europe fell following the end to the EU de minimis regime in July. BAI Spot rates out of Hong Kong were little changed WoW, but the full index of outbound routes from Hong Kong (BAI30) – reflecting the whole spectrum of spot and forward contract volumes – gained +0.3% WoW to leave it at +19.6% YoY. Outbound Shanghai (BAI80)was similar, gaining +0.6% WoW to leave it at +19.7% YoY. From South East Asia, rates were also mainly rising WoW on lanes from Bangkok, Hanoi and Malaysia – though falling a little from Vietnam to Europe. From East Asia, rates were rising WoW to Europe from Japan and Taiwan, but also a little lower from Seoul – as well as a little down from both Seoul and Taiwan on lanes to the US. Rates from India were up WoW to the US but unchanged to Europe.

From Europe, rates on Transatlantic routes to the US fell back overall after recent gains – though not on lanes from Amsterdam, Frankfurt or London. There were also falls in rates WoW to India, Japan, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa and the UAE – but also further gains on lanes to China and Australia. The index of outbound routes from Frankfurt (BAI20) bucked the rising global trend, dropping by -3.4% WoW, though still remained well up at +21.1% YoY. By contrast, outbound London Heathrow (BAI40) rebounded from some recent falls, jumping exactly +10.0% WoW to leave it at +11.4% YoY.

Out of the US rates were mostly firmer again WoW, including on lanes to Europe and to China – though lower to South America and certain other lanes such as to the UK and Korea. The index of outbound routes from Chicago (BAI50) edged up a further +1.0% WoW to leave it up some +45.7% YoY compared with low levels last year when standoffs over US tariffs and trade terms were in full swing. Rates from Mexico to Europe fell sharply WoW but remain in positive territory YoY.

Go to TACIndex.com for all the specific data on individual lanes – including new lanes now 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.