AIR CARGO
EUROPE
Driving digital
The 2019 Air Cargo Europe event saw a fl urry of digital
developments – and record attendance, writes Felicity Stredder.
Despite the ongoing slump
in the air cargo industry as
global trade continues to
weigh negatively on volumes,
the spirit of innovation at this
year’s Air Cargo Europe was not
dampened. The four-day event,
from June 4-7, part of the wider
Transport Logistic show in
Munich, achieved new records
in attendance, welcoming 10%
more exhibitors and 5% more
visitors than in 2017.
The accompanying
conference covered topical
issues from driver shortages
and the Silk Road initiative
to environmental efforts and
artifi cial intelligence. In spite
of the assertion during one of
the panel sessions that only
6% of air cargo processes utilise
digitalisation, announcements
in the way of digital initiatives
were in plentiful supply at the
event, from ULD Bluetoothtagging
contracts and online
slot-booking systems to
developments in technical aids
for the warehouse and in GSE
for the ramp.
Meanwhile, some 30
students, professors and
industry experts participated
in a three-day think-a-thon,
endeavouring to answer the
question of how logistics
processes can be improved
through the use of data and
automation. Amongst ideas
surrounding data-sharing
platforms and automated
robots for last-mile delivery,
the winning idea was that
of automated capacity
optimisation.
Developments in distribution
E-booking stole the focus
of many an announcement
at the event, with various
cargo airlines signing up with
software providers to offer
live pricing and slot-booking
capabilities to customers.
Further conversation with
many of the cargo airlines
present revealed this to be a
trending priority, as carriers
strive to reach customers
electronically in order to stay
relevant in the digital era.
Virgin Cargo became the
fi rst company to adopt the
unique digital capabilities of
Accenture’s Freight & Logistics
Software 8.0 platform, a cloudenabled,
end-to-end cargo
management software suite.
Booking platform cargo.one,
meanwhile, signed up two new
customers in AirBridgeCargo
and CargoLogicAir, which
subsequently became the fi rst
all-cargo airlines to make their
capacities available for digital
booking. Founder and MD,
Moritz Claussen, disclosed
that six further customers
are to be announced shortly,
as the company continues
in its objective to add major
airlines from every region of
the world. IAG Cargo also
announced a partnership with
WebCargo by Freightos to offer
customers online access to air
cargo rates, routes and booking
in real-time. WebCargo thus
becomes the fi rst live user of
the carrier’s digital application
programming interfaces (APIs).
Further progress
Another recurring theme of the
event was that of Bluetoothtagging
of ULDs, part of the
ongoing pursuit of precise
and constant oversight of a
shipment’s whereabouts and
environmental status. Jettainer
announced a trial that would
see the deployment of 2,000
BLE tags on containers and
pallets of American Airlines
Cargo, while AirBridgeCargo
Airlines and Unilode Aviation
Solutions announced their
30 June 2019 www.airlogisticsinternational.com
/www.airlogisticsinternational.com
/www.airlogisticsinternational.com