Research
Models for Air Cargo Revenue Management
Most passenger airlines receive revenue from both passengers and cargo transported in the residual belly space. With the current economic climate and increasing fuel prices, airlines are faced with a mounting pressure to find more methods to maximise profits. The majority of literature on airline revenue management has focused on passenger-related problems and the literature relating to air cargo revenue management is relatively recent and underdeveloped. This is partly because of some key characteristics of the air cargo industry, including multi-dimensionality, which makes cargo revenue management more challenging compared to passenger RM. The aim of our research is the development of innovative models that take into account the revenue management principles that have been established and augment them with a more industry-focused response to the revenue management problems. We will look into the revenue management processes and systems currently implemented at our industrial partner Virgin Atlantic Cargo as well as current concerns and difficulties. The main contributions are new models and solution methods that could aid airlines to increase the profitability of their cargo revenue management operations.Supervisors
Professor Kevin Glazebrook, Lancaster UniversityProfessor Joern Meissner, Kühne Logistics University