FMCG, retail replenishment and product launches
Retail calendars do not move. When a launch date, a promotion window or an empty shelf is at stake, we source freighter capacity against the delivery date the buyer already published.
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
A consumer goods charter books freighter capacity against a retail date: a product launch, a promotion or an out-of-stock recovery. Pricing follows occupied volume rather than tonnage, because packaged retail goods fill the deck long before they reach the weight limit.
Scope of service
Capacity fixed against the on-shelf date, not against sailing schedules.
Why retailers charter
Capacity fixed against the on-shelf date, not against sailing schedules.
Series rotations for campaign volumes that exceed booked airline space.
Out-of-stock recovery moved on the first freighter that fits the pallet count.
Direct to operator
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
With Cargo Charter Network
The requirement is not passed sideways to other brokers who each need to earn on the same lift.
We are remunerated by the operator. Our involvement does not add a separate fee to your charter price.
Payload, dimensions, ready date and airport constraints reach the operator unchanged, instead of being relayed through several desks.
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
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.
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.
The same person handles sourcing, contract, permits, handling and flight watch, so there is no handover gap between quote and arrival.
We do not quote capacity that has not been checked with an operator, and we do not confirm acceptance of restricted commodities before the operator has accepted them in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.
What we need to quote
Operational detail
FMCG loads usually fill the deck before they reach the weight limit. We size the aircraft on occupied volume and confirm the usable pallet positions, not the brochure payload.
Distribution centres accept trucks in fixed slots. A flight that lands after the last slot delivers a day later, so the slot is fixed with the flight plan.
Repeat rotations keep the same handling agent, build-up crew and customs entry, which removes most of the variance from a multi-week campaign.
Typical requirements
Anonymised examples of requirements evaluated by the desk. Not a record of completed flights.
Retail capacity enquiry
With the retail deadline and the pallet profile we can size the aircraft the same day.
Launch, promotion or stock recovery — sized on volume, not on tonnage alone.
How to submit a requirement
You send the requirement straight to the desk — no account needed. We work it against operators immediately and come back with compared options.
Route, ready date, weight, dimensions, commodity and handling notes — no account, a few minutes.
Availability, payload and route permissions are checked directly with operators.
Compared operator options with payload, slots, handling and timeline — one accountable contact.
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
Availability is subject to route, payload, permits and operator acceptance.
Capacity structures
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.
01
One shipment fills a deck, or timing and commodity rule out sharing
You control the schedule, the loading plan and the routing.
02
Volume fills part of a deck and the ready date tolerates consolidation
Cost is shared across shippers inside one build-up window.
03
Recurring volume on a lane that already has a rotation
A fixed allocation per flight, committed for a defined period.
04
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
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.
Export and import entries, transit procedures, temporary export for repair, preferential origin papers and the broker interface at both ends.
Pallet and container build-up, load spreading, lashing plans and guidance where packaging would fail an operator acceptance check.
Pre-carriage, on-carriage, air-ride equipment where needed, low-loaders and permitted road routes for outsize crates.
Overflight, landing and cabotage permits, airport slots, night curfew handling and diplomatic clearances where they apply.
Cool storage, active or passive units, cool dollies, data loggers and shock or tilt indicators read at each handover.
Loading supervision, attendants for live cargo, security escorts and sealed handovers for high-value consignments.
Retail lane patterns
Three requirement shapes dominate FMCG enquiries: a launch, a campaign peak and an emergency refill.
Regions handled most often
Pallet height and DC receiving slots are checked before an aircraft is proposed, because both can invalidate an otherwise cheaper option.
Retail freight background
Consumer goods charters are bought backwards from the on-shelf date. The airport pair is chosen so the inbound truck reaches the distribution centre inside its receiving window, which is often a tighter constraint than flight time.
Pallet count and pallet height decide the aircraft long before tonnage does. Light, bulky FMCG cubes out a narrow-body freighter well below its structural payload, so we price volume and weight side by side.
Where a campaign runs for several weeks, a fixed weekly rotation costs less per kilo than repeated spot charters and keeps the same handling agents, slots and build-up crew on the lane.
Between rotations, part-charter space on an existing lane often absorbs the residual volume without a second aircraft.
Questions
Answers from daily desk work: payload, ready date, permits and cost drivers.
See all questionsYes, when the alternative is an empty shelf or a missed launch. The comparison is not charter versus sea freight, it is charter versus lost sales during the launch or promotion window.
By the volume it occupies. Pallet count, pallet height and stackability decide the aircraft; a payload figure alone will not size the flight correctly.
Airport-to-airport is standard; trucking, customs clearance and the DC receiving slot are coordinated on request as one plan.
Aircraft can often be sourced within days, but permits, slots and handling on constrained airports reward four to six weeks of lead time for planned launches.
Talk to the desk
AOG and time-critical requirements can be raised by phone or email at any time — no account required.
Keep reading
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Knowledge
Send the requirement and the desk will come back with sourced options, or call now if it is time-critical.
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