| Ad Hoc Charter |
| A one-off charter operated at the whim of airline or scharterer. |
| Air Waybill |
| Contact documents between shipper and carrier setting down conditions of carriage of goods. |
| Belly Cargo |
| Freight carried in the hold below the main (passenger) deck. |
| Belly Hold |
| Freight accommodation below the main deck. |
| Bermuda Agreement |
| An agreement concludes in 1946 between th UK and the US, designed to regulate future interantional air traffic. Most governments accept its principles and follow it inter alia by limiting traffic rights on international rutes to one or two cariers. |
| Bilateral Rights |
| Agreements on traffice rights concluded between two governments. |
| Bloodstock |
| Pedigree Livestock. Often race horses of cattle for breeding. |
| Breakpoint |
| Weight at which freight charges change eg 100 kilos. |
| Cabotage |
| Where cargo is carried on what is essentially a domestic flight and therefore not subject to international agreements that fix set rates. Cabotage rafes are negotiable between shipper and airline and apply on flights within a country and to its overseas territories. |
| Chargeable kilo |
| Rate for goods where volume exceeds six cubic metres to the tonne. |
| Charter |
| Orginally meant a flight where a shipper contracted hire of an aircraft from an airline. Has usually come to mean any non-scheduled commercial service. |
| CIF |
| Cost, Insurance and Freight, Term used to describe shipment for which costs have been prepaid by exporter (Consignor.) |
| Class Rates |
| Tariffs applied to cargo of a designated class for a started area or route. Usually expressed as a discount or premium over GCR. |
| Combi |
| An aircraft with pallet or container capacity on its main deck as well as in its belly holds. |
| Consolidator |
| An agent which brings together a number of shipments for one destination to qualify for preferential airline rates. |
| Contract Rate |
| A charge levied by carriers selling capacity forward over a given route to a shipper or forwarder; the client is therefore assured of capacity, which must be paid for regardless of load carried. |
| DCA |
| Dept of Civil Aviation. Commonly used term to denote the government department of any foreign country that is responsible for avation regulation and granting traffic rights. |
| Dead Leg |
| A sector flown without payload. |
| Dry Lease |
| The rental of a „clean“ aircraft without crew, ground staff or supporting equipment. |
| Empty Leg |
| Results from an aircraft primarily chartered outbound having cargo capacity inbound orvica verca. A cheap form of airfreight. |
| FAK |
| Freight all Kinds – uniform airline chargingscale applying to a number of commodities;as opposed to SCR (Specific CommodityRate) applying to one commodity only. |
| Fifth Freedom Flight |
| Where cargo is carried by an airline between two countries in neither of which it is based. |
| Flag Carrier |
| An airline of one national registry whose government gives it partial or total monopoly over international routes. |
| Fourth Freedom Flight |
| Where cargo is carried by an airline from a foreign country to the country in which it is bases. |
| Gateway |
| Port of entry into a country or region. |
| GCR |
| General Cargo Rate. The basic tariff category which was introduced to cover most air cargo; now covers only a minority, the remainder being under SCR or class rates. |
| GSA |
| General Sales Agent acting on behalf of an airline. Usually Broker or Forwarder. |
| House Air Waybill (HAWB) |
| Document covering conditions of goods transportet in a forwarder’s consolidation. |
| Igloo |
| Container designed to occupy full main deck width of carrying aircraft. |
| Integrated Carrier |
| Forwarder which uses own aircraft, whether owned or leased, rather than scheduled airlines. |
| Interline |
| Mutal agreement between airlines to link their route network. |
| Livestock |
| Common farm animals. |
| Load Factor |
| Capacity sold as against capacity available, expressed as a percentage. |
| National Carrier |
| A flag carrier owned or controlled by the state. |
| No Objection Certificate |
| Document provided by scheduled or national airlines of many countries declaring no objection to a proposed charter flight operated by another airline. Often demanded by government authorities before they grant permission for a charter flight to take place. |
| No Objection Fee |
| Som of money paid by a charter airline normally to a scheduled airline in order that it waives its right of objection to its government, thus allowing a charter to take place. Tantamount to a bribe. The amount is usually a fixed percentage of the gross cost of a charter. Common pratice in the Middle East and Africa. |
| Off-line |
| Describes an airline that sells in a market to which it does not operate. An Off-Line carrier will use another operator to link with ist network. |
| Pallet |
| Load carrying platform to which loose cargo is secured before placing aboard the aircraft. |
| Pallet Extender |
| Fashionable metal or cardboard device to increase pallet capacity. |
| Part Charter |
| Where part of an airline scheduled flight is sold as if it were a charter in its own right. (Often wrongly used as a synonym for split charter). |
| Part Load Charter |
| Where a part of an aircraft’s load is discharged at one destination and aprt of it at another. This is distinct from a split charter where a number of consignments are carried to the same destination. Inbound, part loads are treated as single entity charters under the regulations of most countries. |
| Parishables |
| Any cargo that loses considerable value if it is delayed in transportation. (Usually refer to fresh friut and vegetables). |
| Pivot Weight |
| That weight of a ULD above which a higher tariff applies; in effect an incentive to maximise cargo density. |
| Proof of Delivery |
| Add-on service in express market, delivered either by phone or courier. Often offered free. |
| Route |
| An established air passage, from point of departure to terminating station. |
| Royalty |
| A charge on charter flights levied by some governments before traffic rights are granted. Somtimes called a „no objection fee“. Usually a fixed proportion of total charter value. |
| Scheduled Flight |
| Any service that operates to a set timetable. |
| SCR |
| Specific Commodity Rate. Applied to narrowly specified commodities. Usually granted on relatively large shipments. Theoretically is of limited time duration. |
| Sector |
| Distance between two ground points within a route. |
| Shipper |
| Term used to describe exporter. Mostly manufacturing companies. |
| Single Entity Charter |
| A non-scheduled flight carrying the cargo of one shipper. |
| Split Charter |
| Where a number of consignments from different shippers are carried on the same non-scheduled aircraft. Under UK regulations a non-scheduled flight chartered by a single forwarder or agent on behalf of a number of shippers is still classified as a split charter. Under US regulations, a forwarding chartered flight is classified as a single entity although it can consolidate. |
| Third Freedom Flight |
| Where cargo is carried by an airline, from the country in which it is based, to a foreign country. |
| Traffic Conferences |
| Rating-fixing machinery operated by IATA. |
| Traffic Rights |
| Government controls on the type and frequency of commercial flights into or out of its territory. See Freedoms of the Air. |
| Ton-Kilometre |
| Measure of airline freight capacity. |
| Transhipment |
| Freight that switches aircraft before final destination, often to take advantage of cheaper rates. |
| Transport Index |
| The number expressing the maximum radiation level in a package of ULD. |
| ULD |
| Unit Load Device. Pallet or Container for freight. |
| Unitisation |
| The packing of single or multiple consignments into ULDs of pallets. |
| Universal Postal Union |
| Organisation which negotiates international mail charges. |
| Weight Load Factor |
| Payload achieved as against available, expressed as a percentage. Cargo is frequently limited by volume rather than weight; hence weight load factors of 100% are rarely achieved. |
| Wet Lease |
| An arrangement for renting an aircraft under which the owner provides crews; ground support equipment, fuel and so on (of dry lease). |
| Yield |
| Revenue, not necessarily profitable, per unit of traffic. |