Air Cargo Unpacked | Rates Soaring, Volumes Flat and Atlas Air's Big Fleet Bet — with Richard Broekman

Richard Broekman, Chief Commercial Officer and Head of Sustainability at Atlas Air, joins Mike King and Neel Jones Shah for the June episode of Air Cargo Unpacked. Atlas flies 113 widebody freighters, around 13% of the world's widebody freighter fleet, so few people have a better view of where this market is heading. Richard gives a first-hand account of how Atlas managed the US de minimis shock in 2025 - which came on top of ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs - by redeploying capacity to Latin America almost overnight, and what it tells us about the EU's de minimis deadline coming on July 1. We also dig into why freight rates are soaring even as IATA cuts its 2026 demand forecast to 0.7%; the hyperscaler data centre boom reshaping the transpacific; the charter surge through the war in Iran; Atlas Air's record Airbus A350 freighter order and the lingering Boeing 777X question; the Air Atlanta investment; and an honest take on sustainable aviation fuel. Rates analysis from Neil Wilson, editor of TAC Index, calculating agent for the Baltic Air Freight Indices. A Freight Buyers' Club production, brought to you by Ontegos Cloud, the freight forwarder profitability specialists.