IATA World Cargo Symposium to focus on building resilience in air cargo

The IATA World Cargo Symposium (WCS) will focus on building resilience to further strengthen air cargo’s post-pandemic prospects.

Taking place in London from September 27-29, the WCS will address many topics related to resilience building, including digitalisation, sustainability, air cargo safety, attracting and retaining talent, e-commerce, air cargo market dynamics, digital distribution and booking, plus Digital Cargo and ONE Record.

Three streams of content will be divided into the themes of digitalisation, sustainability and safety and security. The event will also feature plenary sessions, specialised streams, workshops and executive summits.

Speakers at the WCS include Brendan Sullivan, IATA global head of cargo; Marie Owens Thomsen, IATA chief economist; David Shepherd, IAG Cargo managing director; Dorothea Von Boxberg, Lufthansa Cargo chief executive; and Turhan Ozen, Turkish Cargo chief cargo officer.

Also scheduled is a first-time workshop focused on improving the efficiency of billing settlements between airlines and freight forwarders. The session will incorporate IATA’s new internet-based data processing and customer management system CASSLINK (the Cargo Accounts Settlement System).

There will also be a workshop focused on improving performance in key market segments using IATA CEIV programmes (CEIV Pharma, CEIV Live Animals, CEIV Lithium Batteries and CEIV Fresh); and the Future Air Cargo Executives Summit (FACES), a forum for future air cargo executives to network and share insights on career development.

IATA said that in 2021, air cargo revenues reached a record $204bn, which was more than double 2019 levels and accounted for some 40% of total airline revenues in 2021.

“Air cargo proved its resilience during the pandemic, and it is emerging stronger,” said Sullivan.

“The challenge now is to retain the momentum achieved in digitalisation and other customer-centric efficiency gains.

“There is good reason to be optimistic. Air cargo is maintaining its strength even as economic and geo-political uncertainty grows.

“And this year’s WCS will focus on how the industry can capitalise on this resilience to build an even more promising and sustainable future for global air cargo.”

Air Cargo News is the principal media partner for the three-day IATA WCS conference and exhibition, taking place between September 27-29 at the ExCeL exhibition centre in London, UK.