CargoTech member Aerios has launched an integrated solution to help charter sales teams to provide faster and more accurate estimates for fuel consumption and flight operations during the quotation process for the air cargo charter industry.
Historically, Charter said its sales teams have had to balance speed against accuracy when preparing quotations. Many estimates use Direct Routing (DCT) and Great Circle Distance (GCD) calculations with simplified routing assumptions which can result in underestimated flight times and fuel consumption.
More detailed flight planning information can give you a better view of the actual route, block time and expected fuel burn. This approach could lead to 10% to 15% improvement in accuracy of estimation, Aerios said. But that level of detail has always meant sales teams need to operate in multiple systems and coordinate manually with dispatch departments, adding time to the quoting process.
To address this challenge, Aerios has integrated its platform with three flight planning systems, including Jeppesen ForeFlight, PPS and Airbus NAVBLUE N-FP. Now detailed flight planning information can be pulled direct into the charter quoting work flow.
The information consists of aircraft performance, flight routing, weather and wind conditions, block time and fuel burn. By including these operational parameters in the quotation process, sales teams are able to generate quotes with more detailed flight data without the need to navigate between different systems.
The platform also ties fuel-burn estimates to carrier-specific fuel prices, and automatically calculates the related fuel costs. This allows sales teams to include more precise operational information in their quotes, while reducing manual effort.
You can also manage fuel pricing in the Aerios Carrier App. Carriers have the ability to hold contracted fuel rates, import current supplier pricing by CSV formats, and manually update prices as required.
Accurate fuel-burn calculations are still an important part of charter quotes, particularly with fuel prices still volatile and demand able to change quickly. “Charter operators can gain a competitive advantage with the ability to produce quotations faster and more accurately,” Aerios said.
“Jet fuel prices are high and the charter market is soft, so accuracy is more important than ever,” said Simon Watson, Founder and CEO of Aerios. “Sales teams can’t afford to wait on Dispatch, over quote and miss the opportunity, or under quote and erode margin.”
The platform removes the uncertainty around fuel consumption so customers can create more accurate quotations in a shorter time. It can also help reinforce commercial confidence when operators respond to new charter opportunities,” Aerios said.
The company’s broader goal is to connect air cargo charter professionals, brokers and carriers through a single digital workflow powered by real-time data.
Aerios combines communication and charter operations in one software solution. AI-powered data provides useful information to help with decision making and market intelligence.
Aerios will provide a single digital platform connecting all the key stakeholders to improve collaboration and operational efficiencies, and unlock new revenue opportunities across the air cargo charter ecosystem.
