Seasonal demand, capacity windows and planning
Capacity windows and peak season planning
Charter prices are set by what else wants the same aircraft that week. Knowing which peaks collide with your requirement is the cheapest planning tool available.
Submit a requirement any time — no account needed · first response usually within 60 minutes · 24/7 for AOG and time-critical. Optional: business account for status tracking
In short
Freighter capacity tightens in predictable windows: the fourth quarter, the fortnight before Chinese New Year, the Valentine's and Mother's Day flower peaks, and regional harvest seasons. Committing a rotation ahead of those windows prices well below spot capacity inside them.
- Hardest window
- October to late December
- Asia crunch
- Two weeks before Chinese New Year
- Flower peaks
- Late January and April
- Lead time
- 6–10 weeks, Q4 earlier
Scope of service
Capacity & Peaks
The recurring windows where freighter capacity tightens by sector.
- Valentine's and Mother's Day flower peaks
- Fashion drops and pre-Chinese New Year rush
- Electronics and device launch windows
- Northern hemisphere harvest and planting seasons
- Q4 e-commerce and Black Friday to Christmas
- Hajj, monsoon and regional capacity distortions
Why timing sets the price
Peak calendar
The recurring windows where freighter capacity tightens by sector.
Lead-time guidance
How early capacity should be committed for each window.
Structure advice
When a committed rotation beats buying spot capacity.
Direct to operator
One brokerage layer, not three.
In air cargo charter it is common for a requirement to travel through several intermediaries before it reaches the aircraft operator. Each layer adds its own commission to the same flight. We work directly with operators, so the quote you see carries one commercial layer.
Typical chain
- 01Shipper or forwarder issues the requirement
- 02Broker A takes the enquiry, adds margin
- 03Broker B or C is asked for capacity, adds margin
- 04Operator finally quotes the flight
With Cargo Charter Network
- 01You submit the requirement once
- 02We approach operators directly from our network
- 03You receive comparable options with one accountable contact
No stacked commissions
The requirement is not passed sideways to other brokers who each need to earn on the same lift.
No cost on top for you
We are remunerated by the operator. Our involvement does not add a separate fee to your charter price.
Faster and cleaner information
Payload, dimensions, ready date and airport constraints reach the operator unchanged, instead of being relayed through several desks.
Real comparison, not one option
Because we source across operators ourselves, you see the realistic market for that routing rather than whatever one intermediary could reach.
Availability, pricing and acceptance always remain with the operating carrier. Where a requirement can only be served through a partner, we say so before you decide.
How we work
Broker, not operator
Cargo Charter Network does not operate aircraft and employs no flight crew. Every flight is performed by a licensed operator we source, compare and coordinate.
Operator selection
Operators are checked for AOC validity, insurance, aircraft configuration and route authority for the specific mission before a price is put in front of you.
One accountable contact
The same person handles sourcing, contract, permits, handling and flight watch, so there is no handover gap between quote and arrival.
What we will not do
We do not quote capacity that has not been checked with an operator, and we do not confirm acceptance of restricted commodities before the operator has accepted them in writing.
Requirement enquiry
Send the requirement to the desk
Route, ready date and payload are enough for us to start checking operators.
Requirement data stays confidential; supplier identities and margins are never shared.
How to submit a requirement
How a requirement is handled.
You send the requirement straight to the desk — no account needed. We work it against operators immediately and come back with compared options.
- 01
Send the requirement
Route, ready date, weight, dimensions, commodity and handling notes — no account, a few minutes.
- 02
We check
Availability, payload and route permissions are checked directly with operators.
- 03
Receive options
Compared operator options with payload, slots, handling and timeline — one accountable contact.
- 04
Account (optional)
For status tracking and document exchange in the portal. Account verification is usually the same business day.
No supplier identities, margins or internal sourcing data are shared. Requirement data is treated confidentially.
Aircraft
- 01Q4 removes wide-body freighter availability first
- 02Pre-Chinese New Year compresses Asian departures into two weeks
- 03Flower peaks lock African and South American capacity
- 04Maintenance seasons quietly remove capacity from the market
Availability is subject to route, payload, permits and operator acceptance.
Capacity structures
Four ways to buy the capacity
The same requirement can be bought as a whole aircraft, as a share of one, as reserved space on a running rotation or as leased capacity with crew. The structure decides the price far more than the aircraft type does.
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01
Full charter
One shipment fills a deck, or timing and commodity rule out sharing
You control the schedule, the loading plan and the routing.
02
Part charter
Volume fills part of a deck and the ready date tolerates consolidation
Cost is shared across shippers inside one build-up window.
03
Blocked space
Recurring volume on a lane that already has a rotation
A fixed allocation per flight, committed for a defined period.
04
ACMI / wet lease
Capacity is needed for weeks or months, not for one flight
Aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance leased against guaranteed block hours.
Fuel, ATC, airport charges, handling and de-icing sit outside an ACMI rate. On charter they are inside the quoted price unless stated otherwise.
Around the flight
What we coordinate besides the aircraft
A charter is only as good as the ground scope attached to it. These items are quoted and coordinated as part of the mission, not left to the shipper.
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Customs and documentation
Export and import entries, transit procedures, temporary export for repair, preferential origin papers and the broker interface at both ends.
ULD build-up and packing advice
Pallet and container build-up, load spreading, lashing plans and guidance where packaging would fail an operator acceptance check.
Trucking and last mile
Pre-carriage, on-carriage, air-ride equipment where needed, low-loaders and permitted road routes for outsize crates.
Permits and slots
Overflight, landing and cabotage permits, airport slots, night curfew handling and diplomatic clearances where they apply.
Temperature and monitoring
Cool storage, active or passive units, cool dollies, data loggers and shock or tilt indicators read at each handover.
Supervision and escorts
Loading supervision, attendants for live cargo, security escorts and sealed handovers for high-value consignments.
Market background
Peaks do not queue politely
Several of these windows overlap. Late January carries the pre-Chinese New Year rush and the Valentine's flower peak at the same time, which is why capacity out of Asia and out of East Africa becomes expensive in the same fortnight.
The last quarter is the hardest window of the year: e-commerce, electronics launches and retail restocking all compete for the same wide-body freighters, and maintenance programmes take further aircraft out of the market.
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Committing early versus buying spot
A committed rotation agreed months ahead prices materially below spot capacity in the same week. The trade is flexibility: committed capacity has to be paid whether or not the volume appears.
For volatile volume, a hybrid works best: commit the base rotation and keep part-charter or blocked space as the flex layer on top of it.
What to prepare before a peak
Lane, frequency, payload band and the acceptable airport pairs. With those four items the desk can hold options rather than restart the search each time volume firms up.
Where documentation is the constraint, permits and certificates should be started before the aircraft search, not alongside the departure.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Answers from daily desk work: payload, ready date, permits and cost drivers.
See all questionsThe fourth quarter, driven by e-commerce and retail restocking, and the two weeks before Chinese New Year. Flower peaks add pressure on African and South American lanes in late January and April.
Committed Q4 rotations are typically fixed in the summer. Flower and fashion peaks are usually secured six to ten weeks ahead.
Often more than usual, because scheduled space is the first thing to disappear. Prices are higher, but availability is the deciding factor.
Options can be held for short periods, and blocked space gives partial commitment. Indefinite free holds do not exist in this market.
Yes. Heavy maintenance slots remove freighters from the market for weeks at a time, often in the quieter months before a peak.
Talk to the desk
Urgent? Call the desk directly.
AOG and time-critical requirements can be raised by phone or email at any time — no account required.
- Phone
- +49 172 6111193
- Availability
- 24/7 for AOG and time-critical
- First response
- Usually within 60 minutes
Keep reading
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Knowledge
- What is a cargo charter?How ad-hoc, full, part and series cargo charter work: pricing drivers, lead times, documen
- What is ACMI / wet lease?ACMI, wet lease, damp and dry lease compared: cost split, guaranteed block hours, regulato
- Cargo charter quote requirementsWhat a charter desk needs to price a freighter: route, ready date, weights, dimensions per
- Cargo charter cost driversCost guide
- How a cargo charter booking worksProcess guide
- Overflight and landing permits for cargo chartersCompliance guide
- Outsize and heavy air cargoLoading guide
- Temperature controlled air freightCool chain guide
Move the next mission
Send the requirement and the desk will come back with sourced options, or call now if it is time-critical.
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