Logistics Terms Air Freight Index, BAI vs TAC vs WorldACD, What are the differences?

Uncertainty and volatility in the global air cargo market are growing faster than before, and freights are changing fast. Amid this situation, data has become a competitiveness. In this regard, companies have to come up with logistic strategies based on diverse “indices.” We are going to look at three major indices showing air freight rates: BAI, TAC Index, and WorldACD.

1. BAI (Baltic Air Freight Index)

1) Definition

BAI, an index released by the Baltic Exchange of the UK, is used as a standard for global air cargo freight rates by providing weekly general cargo rate changes of major airports. It is a representative index presenting price flows and trends of the air cargo market at a glance based on actual transactions.


“The Baltic Air freight Indices (BAI) reflect the weekly transactional rates for general cargo. The data includes a headline index - the BAI Index – a weighted average of the 17 underlying destination basket routes, as well as six outbound indices – a weighted average of the destination baskets from each of the six origin airports. The data is produced the governance of Baltic Exchange Information Services, with TAC Index acting as the Calculating Agent.”  ^[1]

• Announcing Organization: Baltic Exchange of the UK

• Index Overview: Air freight index calculated by partnering with the TAC Index of Hong Kong

• Composition

  • Headline Index (BAI Index): A weighted average of the 17 underlying destination basket routes, reflecting the weekly transactional rates for general cargo (BAI00)
  • Index by origin airport: Six outbound indices based on rates from six origin airports (Frankfurt, Hong Kong, London, Chicago, Singapore, Shanghai) to multiple destinations (BAI20, BAI30, BAI40, BAI50, BAI60, BAI80)
  [BAI Code Details]

  BAI Code	Short Description
  BAI00	Baltic Air Freight Index
  BAI20	Frankfurt Outbound Index
  BAI30	Hong Kong Outbound Index
  BAI40	London Heathrow Outbound Index
  BAI50	O'Hare Int'l, Chicago Outbound Index
  BAI60	Singapore Outbound index
  BAI80	Shanghai Pudong Outbound Index
  BAI22	Frankfurt to North America
  BAI23	Frankfurt to South East Asia
  BAI24	Frankfurt to USA
  BAI25	Frankfurt to China
  BAI31	Hong Kong to Europe
  BAI32	Hong Kong to North America
  BAI33	Hong Kong to South East Asia
  BAI34	Hong Kong to USA
  BAI42	London Heathrow to North America
  BAI43	London Heathrow to South East Asia
  BAI44	London Heathrow to USA
  BAI51	O'Hare Int'l, Chicago to Europe
  BAI53	O'Hare Int'l, Chicago to South East Asia
  BAI63	Singapore to South East Asia
  BAI81	Shanghai Pudong to Europe
  BAI82	Shanghai Pudong to North America
  BAI84	Shanghai Pudong to USA

  (Source: Baltic Exchange)

• Characteristics

  • BAI is an important index to understand the rate trends of the global air cargo market and is a dominant index in the industry, with high reliability
  • Unlike maritime rates indices, weight is important for air cargo, and a weight discount is also available.

2) 2025 BAI Analysis

• 1Q: The average composite index of the 1st quarter was 2,145, impacted by the Chinese Lunar New Year and tariff changes, showing a temporary drop. But still it was up 10% YoY.

• 2Q: Moved downward with supply pressure due to tariffs and trade uncertainty, even though demand still remained.

• 3Q: The average composite index was at 2039.5, down by 4.6% compared to the same period last year. It saw a limited peak-time effect due to early front-loading in the 1st and 2nd quarters.

2. TAC(The Air Cargo Company) Index

1) Definition

TAC Index is a provider of global benchmark data of air freight rates and plays a role in offering data calculation basis of the BAI index. It was launched in November 2020 in partnership with Baltic Exchange and TAC Index to rebrand and improve the previous TAC Freight Index.

• Announcing Organization: The Baltic Exchange announces BAI Index, which partners with TAC Index

• Index Overview: TAC Index still performs as a data provider and a calculation agent

• Characteristics

  • Since November 2020, it was rebranded as BAI Index after partnering with the Baltic Exchange
  • Previously known as a TAC Index, but currently the TAC Index is utilized as a calculation basis for BAI Index

3. WorldACD (Market Data)

1) Definition

It is an air cargo market database platform operated by the WorldACD, analyzing freight rates, volumes, and route trends based on actual transaction data collected from over 150 countries and over 100,000 city pairs.

• Announcing Organization: WorldACD, headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands. An air cargo market data provider established in 2004.

• Index Overview: It builds a big data base of over 450,000 weekly transactions and demonstrates air cargo freight rates and volume trends by utilizing “Rate Index” and “Index Worldwide Air Cargo” by time series.

• Characteristics

  • It announces data of the previous week on Thursday, showing cargo tonnage by route and origin, freight rate, load factor changes, etc.
  • It releases weekly and monthly data
  • It reports how external factors, including tariffs and trade policies, airplane supply changes, can impact changes in rates and tonnages in major regions (e.g., Asia to the U.S. or Asia to Europe).
  • As most services require a paid subscription, it could be not easy to fully understand the market with publicly available indices.

2) 2025 WorldACD Graph

WorldACD offers various indices. WorldACD Market Data B.V. (short for “WorldACD”) provides 2025 weekly indices and market data reports and presents year-on-year weekly rate changes and volume change ratios.

[WorldACD Weekly Air Cargo Trends 2025 – week 43]

(Source: WorldACD)

Q. Can BAI Index and TAC Index be considered the same?

A. It would be accurate to say that “BAI Index is an index based on TAC data, and the TAC Index is one of the indices/organizations providing the data.”

Q. In the market where air cargo rates change rapidly, which data can help us make more accurate decisions?

A. The BAI Index (air cargo freight rate index)—based on actual transactions—and TAC (standard rate index) are considered to have high reliability.
The air freight rates shift significantly even in the short term according to seasonality, oil prices, and demand changes for particular routes. As indices, such as BAI and TAC, which are based on actual transactions, showcase the average trends more objectively, they are more effective in understanding normal rates of the market than solely relying on individual quotations.

Q. When taking account of rates and cargo and route trends together, what strategic decisions can be made?

A. When analyzing cargo flows across the world, transportation strategies can be optimized by figuring out which routes will be congested or not.
For example, by analyzing actual transaction data of airlines and forwarders as WorldACD, more accurate data as below can be known:

• Regional volume changes
• Demand trends by route
• Growth trends by item

This information is a key ground for strategic decision-making, such as launching new routes, dividing volumes, or adjusting peak-season rates. In other words, it leads to strategies that forecast the market and secure competitiveness, going beyond a simple interpretation of statistics.

[1] https://www.balticexchange.com/en/data-services/market-information0/air-freight-services.html
[2] https://www.tacindex.com/tac-freight/
[3] https://www.worldacd.com/trend-reports/weekly/worldacd-weekly-air-cargo-trends-2025-week-32/
[4] https://www.balticexchange.com/en/index.html
[5] https://www.worldacd.com/

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