General sales agent Kales Airline Services acts, thinks and performs like a well-running airline, based on a close and confidential partnership relation. This translates to an extended role with the GSA managing the supply chain from origin to the shipment’s departure on board an aircraft. In other words, Kales will continue and extend the company’s Total Cargo Management (TCM) services to its mandate airlines, including possible new accounts.
This said, Kales’ Managing Director, Sebastiaan Scholte points to a remarkable development. While in 2021, GSSAs accounted for 24% of all cargo sales activities they now manage 27%. The demographic developments in the future will make it more difficult to get manpower due to the increased dependency ratio because of an aging population. This translates into an increasing number of airlines that have outsourced and will continue to outsource their air freight business, by handing it over to sales agents. In other words, carriers increasingly focus on their core business, the air transport of shipments, with GSAs taking care of the “rest.”
CEIV pharma certification pays off
Kales benefits from the fact that the company became the first CEIV Cargo certified GSSA worldwide. This applies to Belgium, Italy, and Switzerland. The CEIV pharma certification also helped to acquire Finnair Cargo as customer for its freight business in Belgium, the European center of pharmaceutical production and distribution. The Nordic carrier was the first airline worldwide to achieve IATA CEIV Pharma handling certification in 2015 and has been re-certified multiple times since.
Satisfying results
When asked about the 2025 results, Scholte speaks of a “good year” for his company. Although there are always seasonal fluctuations in the freight business, Kales outgrew the market despite some seasonal ups and downs. However, these ups and downs are leveling off, he says, “shown by the fact that we saw no real peak in the final quarter.”
Widening global network
Kales also used the year to expand its global network, which includes 72 offices in more than 34 European countries, 13 offices in India, as well as stations in Toronto, Mexico City, Quito, and Bogota. In addition, there is a new branch in Almaty (Kazakhstan) and Katmandu, Nepal, while the station in Istanbul, which runs remarkably well was established two years ago. “In addition to the local market, Kazakhstan is also interesting for us because shipments from southwest China are transported there by truck and then flown out from Almaty.”
As new cargo customers, Kales has acquired amongst others, Air Serbia in 2025, covering the Turkish, Polish, Italian, and Hungarian markets, DHL Aviation in Switzerland, and TAP Portugal serving Central America.
Human factor becomes increasingly important
Asked about 2026, he is largely optimistic but sees global uncertainties as main risks, making forecasts making accurate forecasts impossible, Sebastiaan stresses.
This said, he points out that the human factor will become more important, as the wave of retirements, especially in Europe, will leave gaps that will need to be filled. “In air freight, we have seen 30 months of continuous growth. Hence, a temporary slowdown is conceivable, although experience shows that air freight always thrives in times of crisis.”
Reopening of the Suez Canal might send rates south
The reopening of the Suez Canal could also contribute to a cooling off, or rather to a modal shift and a fall in transport prices. Due to the shorter travel times for container vessels between the Far East and Europe, some goods are likely to be shifted from air to ocean. This will have an impact on rates, which are likely to fall, at least for a while, until prices on these core routes have stabilized again.
However, given the current global political situation, other developments cannot be ruled out, says the manager. For the air freight industry, agility and flexibility are therefore essential in order to be able to react quickly to new situations. As Kales operates worldwide, Scholte has added key trade shows to his travel plans this year. These include Air Cargo India (February 25-27), the World Cargo Symposium in Lima, Peru (March 10-12), Air Cargo China in Shanghai (June 24-26), and the TIACA Air Cargo Forum in Miami Beach (November 12-14).
