Left to right: Vladimir Zubkov, Secretary General, TIACA; Steven Polmans, Chairman, TIACA and
Director Cargo and Logistics, Brussels Airport Company; Sanjeev Gadhia, Vice Chairman, TIACA and
Chief Executive Officer, Astral Aviation
We like a good
mix amongst
the membership
because this is
the very purpose
of TIACA
Vladimir Zubkov, Secretary General
second fastest growing region
in the world, it’s my objective
to drive the TIACA agenda
in Africa, which has signed a
Co-operation Agreement with
the African Airlines Association
(AFRAA), which is the largest
airline Association in the
continent.
“We need to also look
at expanding the TIACA
footprint, especially in Asia,
Africa and South America,
so that we can have an
association which represents
the entire air cargo fraternity.”
Increasing TIACA’s diversity
will help ensure that it remains
relevant and sustainable in
years to come. The air cargo
industry has evolved in
the past decade and so has
TIACA, both in its board and
membership profile.
However, there are
practical problems in running
such a geographically
and linguistically diverse
organisation. That said, at least
most people in airfreight speak
English – don’t they?
Secretary General Vladimir
Zubkov suggests: “To run
an organisation which is
diverse, both geographically
and linguistically, is always
challenging; I would also
add, culturally diverse. That’s
why one of our publications,
the weekly Friday Flyer, is
translated into Spanish and
Russian.”
Interestingly, he adds that
the Cargo Service Quality
questionnaire encountered
difficulties in gathering
responses from cargo handlers
who were not proficient
in English. English isn’t
necessarily spoken in all areas
in the world and some regions
are geographically remote from
main areas of activity. This is
a problem, believes Zubkov.
“Travel is expensive and time
consuming. To maintain good
links with the members and to
promote TIACA benefits is not
easy if you don’t have the local
representation.
“Of course, to have a local
event translated into the
native language would be very
beneficial. We do it when we
partner with ICAO, who have
interpreters and translators on
the staff, but we have to realise
that it requires resources.”
TIACA continues to add
members and it welcomes any
size and type of company,
provided they are involved
in the air cargo supply chain.
Zubkov continues: “We like
a good mix amongst the
membership because this is
the very purpose of TIACA
– to bring together all the
supply chain and to allow for
interaction and harmonious
development of all types of
the companies dealing with
air cargo.”
Lobbying
Advocacy – or lobbying –
remains one of the four pillars
of the Association. There are
several international and
national organisations which
work in the same areas as
TIACA, Zubkov relates: for
example, the World Customs
Organisation and International
Civil Aviation organisation,
as well as some government
programmes that include air
cargo components. “If we stay
away from their development,
they may inadvertently
exclude the interest of the air
cargo industry. That’s why
we participate in the working
groups, especially with WCO
and ICAO in order to represent
industry interests and inform
our members about progress
and outcome.”
One of the key areas for
advocacy is the liberalisation
of air cargo services. An
interesting proposal that
emerged at the recent
Canada Aviation Summit in
Winnipeg was that of offering
a liberalised regime to at
least one airport, in this case
Winnipeg, which is building
a new US$60m cargo facility.
“It will need to justify its
existence, and I have written
two different Canadian
authorities, urging them to
give the green light to this
proposal. It’s much awaited
by several TIACA member
airlines.”
www.airlogisticsinternational.com October 2019 23
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