EDITOR’S
WELCOME
MISSION
STATEMENT
Onwards – and upwards?
Another year of flying freight around the world has come to an
end - and what a year it has been. Nobody needs reminding of
the continued struggle with volumes that cargo has suffered
throughout 2019, owing to a combination of a politically induced poor
trading environment and a cyclical slump in the economy.
In November, forecasts from the WTO suggested that weak global trade
would continue into the fourth quarter of the year, with other industry
associations predicting the same fate for cargo traffic. It doesn’t take a
genius to draw the parallels between these predictions and the ongoing
trade dispute between the US and China, which saw Europe dragged into
the altercation in October, when certain European imports were slapped
with tariffs too. Brexit-related uncertainty lingers, meanwhile, despite
hopes that a resolution would be firmly in place by now.
All is not lost, however. Africa bucked the trend, reporting year-onyear
volume growth in August, and IATA insists that the downward trend
has eased off overall in recent months. Furthermore, while initiatives of
old like the e-AWB may have been left by the wayside, the drive towards
digitalising airfreight has not been so neglected. A highlight of this year
has been the surge in carriers digitalising their distribution offering and
taking their slot-booking facilities online – and live.
Talking of live, investment in tracking and management tools is
growing, too, and tentative movement towards the all-important sharing
of this data is also in evidence. New industry certifications continue to
drive the standardisation of specialist cargo handling, with the CEIV
portfolio ever expanding and the list of certified entities growing even
more quickly. Developments in drones and fulfilling the final mile have
also received attention, with efforts towards the latter seeing the launch
of a disruptive new service from a US carrier this year. And there’s been
no lack of network expansion news either, with announcements of new
routes and new or expanded facilities continuing apace. Perhaps the
most notable area of resilience has been that of the pharma segment, as
cold chain handling continues to benefit from huge investment – and
profitability – against the odds. Not forgetting e-commerce, of course,
which continues on its exponential curve, too.
All in all, heading into 2020 there is plenty of reason to trust that
progress will push onwards – and freighters upwards.
Felicity Stredder, Deputy Editor
ALI comes from the
same team responsible
for the well-established
titles of Ground Handling
International and Ramp
Equipment News. As
such, it builds on over
20 years of industry
experience and, with
a comprehensive and
skilled team of writers
based in both Europe
and the US, aims to bring
the reader up to date
with the world of air
transportation.
4 December 2019 www.airlogisticsinternational.com
/www.airlogisticsinternational.com