Top 3 trends in the evolution of air cargo communities

Over the past seven years, cargo communities like those at Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS), Brussels Airport (BRU), Frankfurt Airport (FRA), Singapore Changi (SIN) and Miami Airport (MIA), have worked to instill real and positive change into airport operations. While the cargo industry is often derided for a lag in technological upgrades or slow operations, airport cargo communities have introduced advancements to airport governance and business infrastructure, as well as to how stakeholders approach operations. After speaking with airport stakeholders and technology providers, we at Air Cargo Airports have identified the top three trends evident in airport cargo communities’ evolving operations. #3: The race for temperature-controlled accreditation One of the major issues in shipping temperature-sensitive products, such as biopharmaceuticals and perishable food products, is the need to ensure and implement the standardization of shipment for these goods. Last year the Cool Chain Association (CCA) pointed to a startling statistic, that an estimated 1.3 billion tonnes of food – a third of all produced – is wasted along the supply chain each year. In response to this need for standardization, air cargo communities, including Amsterdam (AMS), Brussels (BRU), Frankfurt (FRA), Hong Kong (HKG), Miami (MIA), Singapore (SIN) and most recently Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), have stepped up to support their tenants in positioning themselves to capture the fast-growing biopharmaceutical and perishable markets. At Frankfurt Airport (FRA), Air Cargo Community Frankfurt has five “competence groups” to host forums for discussion and space for initiatives to address the common needs of its members, one of which is “temperature-controlled transport.” Within this group are two specialist vertical groups on perishable and pharmaceutical products. Fraport senior vice president for cargo, Max Conrady, told Air Cargo Airports that the airport has already seen success in its efforts with Fraport AG attaining the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA’s) CEIV-Pharma certification last year. The airport also offers its cargo community members the ability to use 18 temperature-controlled vehicles for the transportation of perishables or pharma products. Last month, HKG also became the first CEIV Fresh-certified airport with IATA’s launch of the program at the World Cargo Symposium in Singapore. For HKG, the accreditation strengthens its positioning in East Asian cargo markets against regional competitors also preparing to capture emerging perishables trade. #2: Digitalization of resource management and physical operations Airport cargo communities recognize the value in digitalizing operations to increase efficiency and reduce costs among community partners, and have taken two approaches to digitalizing airport operations: Adopting cloud platforms and applications for resource management; and Integrating physical operations with digital technology. Cloud platforms and applications for resource management allow airport cargo communities to streamline scattered infrastructures of various airport stakeholders’ operations. The process of sharing data over secure cloud platforms increases visibility between providers, which allows for efficient planning of operations and lower costs in time and money. Currently, Brussels (BRU), Heathrow (LHR), Vienna (VIE) and Liège (LGG) airports already leverage the technology in their communities. Singapore (SIN) and Frankfurt (FRA) airports also told Air Cargo Airports that soon, they too will introduce digital platforms to connect key players across their airport community. Singapore said that it is currently working towards establishing an airport community system to connect all key players in the supply chain, beyond each stakeholders’ individual system. Meanwhile, FRA has already launched its digital Fair@Link platform to connect key players across the airport community and will soon launch its “Air Cargo Digitalization Catalyst” (ACDC) this spring. ACDC will include the ability to host a variety of applications the airport seeks to develop, including a ramp slot-booking app, eDGD, ePER Import and the smart air cargo trailer. #1: The rise of end-to-end supply chain approaches Perhaps the most novel trend in air cargo communities’ evolution is the rise of end-toend systems approaches to air cargo. This means that as airport cargo communities have matured, they are growing their focus beyond the inward management of resources and development of intra-airport communications between stakeholders, to establishing connections with other airports and cargo communities. This outward focus is taking shape in the bilateral and multilateral cooperation on a variety of topics increasingly announced between airports. On the individual level, airport cargo communities are beginning to reach out to other airports. AMS’ head of cargo, Bart Pouwels, told Air Cargo Airports that the airport is working with Atlanta International Airport (ATL) to integrate their airports’ digital systems in support of efficient trade and customs processing. Pouwels also said the airport is exploring collaboration on similar issues with Indian airports Mumbai (BOM) and Delhi (DEL), and is in discussion with the Chinese government regarding cooperation with Chinese airports, which are he says are “promising.” Multilateral efforts borne from airport cargo communities include the founding of Pharma.Aero in 2016, by Miami (MIA) and Brussels (BRU), joined by a variety of air cargo industry stakeholders, including Singapore Changi (SIN) airport. The trend of cooperation has continued with the development of a “pharma corridor” between HKG and BRU, and most recently, between BRU and Montevideo Airport (MVD), in Uruguay.

Top 3 trends in the evolution of air cargo communities

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