Block Space Agreement, Full Charter or ACMI: What Suits a Freight Forwarder
Every freight forwarder with regular air volumes faces the same question sooner or later: keep buying space on scheduled flights, charter whole aircraft, or take an aircraft for a season. The right answer depends on three things: how much you move each week, how steady that volume is, and how much risk you can carry.
The three options
Block space agreement
You agree to buy a fixed amount of space, by weight or pallet positions, on an airline's scheduled flights for a period, often a season. The airline flies the aircraft; you fill your share.
Good for: steady weekly volumes that are smaller than a whole aircraft
Risk: you usually pay for the space whether you fill it or not
Control: limited. The airline decides the schedule and routing
Full charter
You hire a whole freighter for one flight or a short series. You decide the route and timing.
Good for: peaks, urgent shipments, project cargo, or routes with no scheduled freighter
Risk: you carry the full cost of the flight, including any empty return leg
Control: complete, for that flight
ACMI lease
You take a freighter with crew, maintenance and insurance for months, and fly it on your own schedule. You pay per block hour with a monthly minimum, plus fuel and airport costs.
Good for: high, steady volumes on a regular network
Risk: the highest. You pay the minimum hours every month, full or empty
Control: complete, for the whole term
Matching the option to your volume
As a rough rule:
Less than one aircraft load per week: block space, or buying space ad hoc
One or two full loads a week on the same lane, or seasonal peaks: regular charters or a charter series
Several full loads every week, all year, on a network: consider ACMI
The step from charter to ACMI is where forwarders most often get it wrong. An ACMI freighter needs to fly its minimum hours every month. If your volumes are seasonal, a quiet month still costs the full minimum.
Who carries the empty space
The biggest hidden cost in air cargo is empty space, and each option assigns it differently:
Block space: you carry the risk on your allocation, the airline on the rest of the aircraft
Charter: you carry it on both legs, unless you find a return load
ACMI: you carry all of it, for every flight, for the whole term
That is why many forwarders combine options: a block space agreement for the steady base, and charters on top for peaks.
Contract length
Block space: usually a season or a year, sometimes with volume commitments by week
Charter: single flights or short series, booked days or weeks ahead
ACMI: usually three months to several years
Moving up as volumes grow
A typical path for a growing forwarder on a lane such as South Asia to Europe, or East Africa to the Gulf:
Start with ad hoc space and occasional charters for peaks
Move to a block space agreement once weekly volumes are steady
Add a charter series for the busiest season
Consider ACMI once you can fill several flights a week all year, or partner with other forwarders to share an aircraft
What we need to advise
Tell us your lanes, weekly tonnage by month, the type of cargo and any dangerous goods or temperature needs. We will tell you honestly which option fits and source capacity from operators and airlines. Email info@jetvice.net or see our air cargo page.
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